Being a huge Audrey fan, I was less than pleased when Diane showed up on the scene at the beginning of Season 5. This is my attempt to resolve her and, I think, make peace with her.

As any fic writer, I work for feedback, so please don't be shy!

Summary: Post Season 5, minus the last 10 minutes (so no phone call from "Kim"). As the title suggests, Jack has some loose ends to tie up after his 5th and most harrowing day yet.

Disclaimer: As much as I wish they were, Jack and Audrey and the rest of the gang are not mine. I'm just taking them for a spin, and promise to return them in roughly the same condition I found them in.

Loose Ends, Part I

Jack Bauer woke with a start. Just as he had been every day for the past several days, he was disoriented for a few seconds before he remembered where he was. Who he was.

For the past eighteen months, he had started each morning by repeating "Frank Flynn" in his head like a mantra, to remind himself of his new identity, the person he had no choice but to become. And he had finally started to get used to it. More importantly, he had finally started to accept it - Jack no longer existed; Frank was his reality now. Going back wasn't an option.

He didn't know how wrong he was.

It had been almost a week now since the events unfolded that forced him out of hiding, which had thrown him right back into the thick of his old life. Almost a week since he helped expose the President of the United States for the traitor he was.

And the morning after, against all odds, he had woken up and found himself whispering, "Jack Bauer." He just wasn't entirely certain who that was anymore.

Jack sat up, ran a hand over his face and took a deep breath, getting his bearings. He glanced at the space beside him and found it empty; the only evidence that someone had been there was the sheet flung to one side. For a moment, he panicked. But as he sat quietly, he heard the water running in the other room and smiled.

Audrey.

If anything good had come out of that God-forsaken day, it was her. He had her back. He didn't deserve her, Jack knew that. She had every right to hate him, to despise him, for everything he'd done and didn't do. Yet here she was. Loving him. Men like him did not get a second chance at this. Hell, they rarely got a first one.

But the gods of fate decided to smile down on him, and he was determined not to screw it up again. Which was why what he had to tell her this morning was not going to be easy.

Jack stood up and, after locating his boxers, made his way to the bathroom, pushing the door open slowly. He found Audrey leaning over the sink, clad in a pair of shorts and a tank top, doing whatever it was women did when they stared at themselves in the mirror.

He leaned against the door jam and studied her. She had changed since last time he had seen her. For one thing her hair, which at the moment was pulled back in a hair band, was shorter.

But that was just physical. There were other less obvious changes as well. Audrey had always been strong, but there was a new toughness about her that hadn't been there before. She was more guarded with people, not as willing to trust. He knew that was his fault. And yet, he was more than impressed with her resolve. She had gone through hell the day of her kidnapping and his presumed death, and she survived where most others would have shut down. He didn't know too many people who would've come through something like that. Not to mention the nightmare with President Logan.

"Hey," he said at last. She glanced at him in the mirror and smiled. It was a smile that, every time he saw it, made him happier than he believed he had any right to be. One that he'd thought about every night for the past eighteen months. It was one of his worst moments when he forced himself to accept the fact that he was never going to see it again.

"Hey," she replied. "You were sleeping so soundly for once, I didn't want to wake you."

Jack nodded and walked up behind her, slipping his right arm around her waist, his fingers connecting with her bare skin between tank top and shorts. He nuzzled her neck as she tipped her head back against his shoulder and sighed.

He inhaled the scent of her. It was simple, airy. Something fruity, orange maybe, citrus definitely, but so light that it was the suggestion of the scent rather than the scent itself.

After only a week it still amazed him that he was allowed to do this, to touch her, to pull her close. He still suspected at any moment that someone would come to take her away. Or that he would wake up in that little rented room, alone, and realize that none of it was real.

"This got us into trouble yesterday," Audrey reminded him as he placed soft kisses along her shoulder.

"And the day before that," he answered, looking up and grinning at her in the mirror. She grinned back.

"Exactly," she said, swatting at his hand as he tried to push the strap of her top off her shoulder. "But the difference is, I have to be somewhere today."

Yet even as she said it, he knew that she would have let him turn her in his arms, let him lead her back to the bed where they had been spending most of their time together in recent memory.

But her words sobered him. Audrey was going to see her father. He was being released from the hospital this morning, miraculously not having suffered any serious injury from what should have been the fatal act of driving his own car off a cliff.

Jack had wanted to go with Audrey, but she gently persuaded him otherwise.

"I think I should go alone," she told him the other night, curled up beside him. "I know Dad's grateful to you for everything you've done for this country. I'm just not sure he's entirely comfortable with this," she said, indicating the space between them. Jack didn't like it, but he could understand the Secretary's feelings – his daughter was once again involved with a man who had caused her a great deal of pain.

"Okay," he'd murmured, wrapping his arms around her, "We'll do it your way."

Jack was brought back to the present when Audrey's elbow poked him gently in the ribs.

"Hey, are you with me?"

"Hmm? Yeah, I'm here," he said, once again meeting her eyes in the mirror.

"I asked what you're going to do while I'm gone."

Damn it. He wasn't ready for this yet. He hadn't come up with a way to tell her. He had even been toying with the idea of telling her after he returned.

Jack let go of her and stepped back.

"Audrey, I have to tell you something."

Audrey's eyebrows furrowed.

"Okay."

He took a deep breath.

"It's something you may not like."

Audrey turned around to face him, her hands resting on the counter behind her.

"Jack, what is it?" she asked with a slight edge in her voice. He realized he had started to scare her without even meaning to. He tried to soften his tone.

"I have somewhere I need to go today."

She made an impatient sound. "Stop being so cryptic. Just tell me where–"

"Mojave." There, he'd said it. Audrey gave him a puzzled look.

"Mojave? What's in–" And then he saw as it clicked for her. "Oh." She crossed her arms, consciously or unconsciously he wasn't sure.

"Audrey, I'm sorry, I have to go. I promised both of them I would, and I owe it to them after everything th–"

She silenced him by holding her hand up.

"Jack, you don't owe me an explanation. You gave Diane and her son your word, and I know that means everything to you. If this is something you need to do, then go do it."

Jack didn't know what to say. He wasn't sure that if their positions were reversed, he would be so magnanimous. He knew he was asking a lot of her. And he could read in her body language that she wasn't as comfortable with it as she would like him to believe.

So instead of saying anything, he reached for her, and pulled her forward until he could tilt her chin up to kiss her softly, slowly. Until she knew in no uncertain terms that it was she he loved, and it was she he was coming back to. It was only she who made him whole.

"Thank you," he said quietly, pulling back and looking at her. Her eyes, the ones that always reminded him of smoke, met his. She reached up and touched his cheek, her expression unreadable.

"You'd better get ready," she told him.

"Yeah," he replied, pressing a kiss to her forehead before heading toward the shower.

When Jack emerged from the bedroom, showered and dressed, he found Audrey just about ready to leave. For an insane moment, he wanted to just grab her and prevent either of them from leaving. Things could change the moment both of them walked out the door. Life inside the cocoon of the hotel room was safe, just the two of them. Nothing else mattered here. Once they left, the real world would again have the ability to exert control over their lives.

Jack wandered into the kitchenette to pour himself the cup of coffee Audrey had left for him. As he stirred in his cream, she appeared in the doorway.

"Jack–" she started, and then stopped. He glanced up at her. He saw she wanted to say something, but clearly felt uncomfortable saying it.

"What is it?" he asked, turning toward her. She hesitated another moment and then said,
"I don't want you to think…" she shook her head and started again. "What are you going to do about…You're not really supposed to leave the city."

That was true. The only reason he wasn't locked in a cell right now was that President Gardner had taken the good word of both Secretary Heller and Bill Buchanan that he wasn't going to disappear again. They had both vouched for him. And the condition was that he wasn't supposed to leave the city limits while the new president decided to what to do about Jack Bauer's resurrection. For even though he had exposed Logan, he still had a lot to answer for.

Jack nodded.

"I know. And I don't want to betray your father's trust. But Audrey, I wouldn't do it if it weren't important. I'll be careful."

A small smile flitted across her lips.

"I know you will," she said, stepping forward and kissing the corner of his mouth. "I'll see you tonight?"

He touched her cheek.

"Yes."

And then she was out the door, leaving him with the feeling that he missed her already.

Jack found the keys to the SUV Bill had arranged for him, and headed down to the garage, finding the vehicle where he'd parked it days ago. Slipping into the driver's seat, he maneuvered the car out of the garage and headed into the morning LA traffic. He soon left the city behind him as he headed north, settling into the silence of the hour and a half drive.