This is a story I wrote quite a while ago, but I just realized that it's not available anywhere anymore, so I'm putting it out there, what the heck. And I'm praying it doesn't get me in trouble with the Ratings Police.

I had fun writing this one - I wrote it because, well, I feel a little sorry for Jack and Audrey. Their lives are so angst-ridden, and they've certainly gotten the short end of the stick on numerous occasions, haven't they? So I feel like they must have had a little fun somewhere along the way, or they would have never been together in the first place.

Warning: There's no redeeming plot value here whatsoever! Just some shenanigans during your typical mundane meeting....as far as any meeting with Jack Bauer can be typical. :)


Audrey was bored.

She glanced around the dining room of the busy hotel restaurant filled with the usual D.C. lunch crowd. The movers and shakers of Washington had descended on this place, in their high-powered suits, to change and shape matters of state as they picked at meals that were more expensive than anyone had a right to charge for.

Which is exactly what Audrey was doing.

She was seated at a table with Jack, her father, and one of the senators from Maine. She and Jack were sitting with their backs to the wall so the secretary and the senator were not facing the crowd. Her father preferred that arrangement if possible – he felt that the fewer people who saw him, the less he would be bothered.

Audrey was desperately trying to focus on what her father was saying, but it was getting harder by the minute. She usually loved her job. It was filled with variety, and most days she felt like she was making a difference. But this was probably her least favorite part of it – the incessant talking, the convincing and compromising, the hedging, until you weren't at all sure you got what you originally intended.

She and Jack were here at her father's request, though she wasn't exactly sure why. But she knew her father wasn't very fond of this senator, and maybe he just didn't want to be alone with him.

Audrey stole a quick look at Jack. She could tell he wasn't any more invested in the conversation than she was. He was doing a good job hiding it, but she knew him. In fact, in the recent weeks, she'd gotten to know him very well.

And suddenly a very wicked idea popped into her head.


Next to Audrey, Jack was equally bored.

He wasn't sure how long he'd been sitting there, but it felt like hours already. And unfortunately, it didn't look like it was going to end anytime soon – Secretary Heller and Senator Thomas weren't exactly seeing eye to eye.

Truthfully, he didn't know why he was here. The Secretary asked his opinion every now and then, but Jack didn't think he was contributing anything monumental. He did remember Audrey mentioning that morning that her father and the senator weren't on the friendliest of terms, and he figured maybe Heller had decided to stack the table in his favor.

He stifled a sigh. He liked his job, he really did. He had been unsure at first if he was cut out for an office job, but he found that he was better at it than he thought and that Secretary Heller's way of doing things suited him just fine. It was just that Jack would have rather been back at the office, planning, working strategy. He preferred to leave the talking part up to the secretary.

Jack saw Audrey shift out of the corner of his eye. They were both sandwiched in the corner of the large room – in the corner due to the Secretary's penchant for being inconspicuous, sandwiched because they'd apparently gotten the world's smallest table for four. But he couldn't complain too much, at least Audrey was here with him. And recent events suggested to him that he was happier any time he was in her presence.

He didn't think she was terribly enthusiastic about this lunch either, but it looked like her concentration was better than his. At any rate, she was nodding and commenting on something the senator just said.

Which was why he was more than a little surprised when he felt her hand land on his knee under the table.

He stole a quick glance at her, but her expression was unreadable. In fact, she looked for all the world like she wasn't even aware that he was sitting beside her. Except that her fingers were now tracing maddening circles on the inside of his knee.


Audrey very nearly smiled. She had felt Jack's leg jump in surprise when she touched him. And she had caught the look he had thrown her way. This lunch meeting had just gotten much more interesting.

He tried to slide his leg away from her, and she let him. She knew there was precious little room there, and eventually his leg had to come to rest right back where it had been. Her hand was there waiting, again slipping over his knee.

It was now going to be a battle of wills.


Jack's brief attempt to move away from Audrey had failed miserably. And he really couldn't do much else without bringing unwanted attention from Heller or the senator.

What the hell was Audrey doing? Her father was just across the table, for Christ's sake. And she was the one who was reticent about informing him of the recent developments in their relationship. Groping him under the table wasn't exactly the way to remain discreet.

So Jack did his best to ignore her. He redoubled his efforts to concentrate on the conversation. And a good thing, too, because Secretary Heller turned to him a few moments later to ask him a question. Jack had heard enough to be able to answer him intelligently, all the while very aware that Audrey's hand was creeping ever upward.

Jesus. Was she kidding? He swallowed hard and willed himself to think of something else, anything besides Audrey's hand on the inside of his thigh.

He tried mentally listing the presidents of the United States in order, but got stuck somewhere around Polk. Did Taylor come next? Damn it, he should really brush up on this kind of thing.

He tried reciting the Ten Commandments in his head, but hit a dead end at number seven.

Nearing desperation, he tried the Three Laws of Motion. Okay, he knew these. One, an object in a state of motion remains in motion unless an external force is applied to it. Yes, that was it. Jack swallowed hard as Audrey's nails scratched lightly along his leg. Two, he gritted out in his head. This one was the one with the equation. What was it? F=ma. Yes! He was on a roll. Three…what the hell was the third one? He wracked his brain, and was nearly going to give up when Audrey's hand squeezed his leg, and it came back to him in a flash. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

A few moments later, as her hand roamed dangerously close to what he could only assume was her intended target, he knew he had to do something or this was going to become a very embarrassing situation for him.

Newton hadn't been kidding.


Audrey looked up as Jack suddenly stood up from the table. The other two men looked up as well.

"Jack, are you alright?" her father asked.

"I'm fine, sir, I think I just need to get some air."

"Are you sure, Jack?" Audrey joined in, her voice full of concern, "You look a little flushed."

Jack turned to her and gave her a tight smile. If looks could kill.

"No, really, I'm fine. I think I just need to walk outside for a few minutes. It's a little warm in here. If you all will excuse me?"

"Of course, Jack," her father answered. "Take your time."

Audrey watched Jack weave through the lunch crowd and out the restaurant into the lobby. She sighed quietly. It had been a fun diversion while it lasted, but now she was just wishing that she had figured out a good excuse to leave the table as well. Instead she was still stuck here for her efforts while Jack got to at least walk around.

Five minutes later, Audrey's cell started to ring. Her father and Senator Thomas looked at her.

Smiling apologetically she said, "I'm sorry. Excuse me." She turned away from them slightly and looked at the number on the display. It wasn't one she recognized.

"Audrey Raines," she answered.

"I want you right now," the voice on the other end said. Jack's voice.

Audrey's stomach flipped, but she kept her voice carefully neutral. "Yes, I think that needs attention. What can I do to help?"

"Five minutes. Room four thirty-eight." And then the line went dead.

Audrey thought quickly as she turned back around.

"Everything okay, Audrey?" he father asked.

Audrey shook her head. "It was the office. They're having some problems, and asked if I could make a few calls. Would you both mind if I stepped away? I shouldn't be that long."

"Of course not, Ms. Raines," Senator Thomas said. "Your father and I are doing just fine."

"Thank you, senator," she answered. Grabbing her purse, she hurried out into the lobby and headed straight toward the bank of elevators. She walked onto the first one that was open and hit the number four button repeatedly.

"Are you in a hurry?" asked an older man who was already standing there, his tone clearly indicating that he was teasing her.

"You have no idea," she muttered under her breath.

After what seemed like an interminable amount of time to get to the fourth floor, the elevator spit Audrey out, and she practically ran to Room 438. Taking a minute to compose herself, she knocked. The door opened, and a hand reached out to grab her and pull her inside.


Jack allowed the door to slam shut as he pushed Audrey up against the wall, caging her there with his hands on either side of her shoulders.

Audrey looked at him.

"Can I help you?" she asked calmly.

"Do you have any idea what you were doing to me down there?" he growled, his lips inches from hers.

"Was I doing something?" she asked, her voice full of innocence.

"Yeah, you might say that," he said, taking her purse from her and dropping it on the floor. "You had a little something to do with this." He grabbed her hand and pressed it to the front of his slacks. Audrey raised an eyebrow at him.

"You seem to have a problem, Mr. Bauer."

Jack looked at her incredulously. How was she being so damn calm? He was ready to jump out of his skin from wanting her and she looked like she was ready for Sunday service. He decided to test her.

"Problems need resolution," he informed her before crushing his mouth to hers and pressing hard against her. A moan escaped her, and he knew he had her. His hands framed her face, tilting her head so he could kiss along her jaw, her neck. Her hands gripped his shirt as her body responded to his, melting against him.

"Jack, " Audrey gasped between kisses, "What about…oh, God…downstairs… don't stop…just can't leave…ahhh…will wonder…"

Jack looked up. "Do you really care right now?"


Audrey didn't even hesitate. "Not really."

And she was instantly rewarded with Jack's mouth on hers – hard, demanding. At the same time, he was tugging her blouse out of her skirt, his hands slipping underneath it to touch her heated skin, cupping her breasts.

Meanwhile, her hands were equally busy. They were shoving his jacket off his shoulders and tearing at the knot in his tie. As soon as she had that off, she made quick work of the buttons on his dress shirt until his chest was at last exposed to her. Her lips were instantly on his skin, tasting him, flicking her tongue against him until she heard him groan.

She had to have him right now.

Audrey's hands were instantly at his belt, unbuckling it and removing it with the speed of a desperate woman. His pants were next, which he did manage to step out of, until she was grasping him through the thin fabric of his boxers.

"Audrey…" he said in a strangled voice, pressing against her hand. "Yes…"

"Now, Jack. Now."

Jack's hands were instantly under her skirt, lifting it up over her hips, and Audrey was insanely grateful she had decided to forgo the pantyhose this morning. But as she felt his hands pulling urgently at her panties, she fixed him with a stare.

"Rip those, Jack, and I'll kill you."


Jack looked at her.

"Are you serious?" he asked.

"Do you have any idea what I paid for them?"

Jack filed away in the part of his brain that wasn't completely consumed with desire a mental note to find out how much lingerie cost, and then quickly decided this argument wasn't worth the fight. It was only delaying them.

"Fine," he conceded, "We'll do it your way." He slipped them off as gently as he could manage and then threw the offending garment off to the side.

He took a second to look at her. Audrey's hair had come undone, her lips swollen from his kisses, her blouse open and her chest rising and falling rapidly with her ragged breath, her skirt bunched around her waist. She stared at him with wide eyes, and he grinned.

Equal and opposite reaction. Indeed.

"What's that smile for?" she asked.

"Newton."

"What?"

"Never mind."

"Get over here, Jack."

It was all the urging he needed. He quickly stripped out of his boxers. And then without preamble, he lifted Audrey against the wall and joined their bodies together.

She cried out, wrapping her arms and legs around him.

He stilled for a moment, worried he might have hurt her.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Oh God, yes. Please, Jack…" her voice whispered, right at his ear. Jack kissed her neck, raked his teeth along her shoulder.

"Yeah, Audrey. Hold on."

And those were the last words either of them spoke until they were both crying out in release, at last sinking against each other.


Audrey unwrapped her legs from around Jack's waist and slowly lowered them to the ground, her hands on the damp skin of his chest. Jack was leaning hard against her, his head resting on her shoulder.

Their breathing was just now returning to normal.

"Jack," she said gently.

"Mmpht," was her only response.

"Jack," she said more sharply.

"Yeah," he said, lifting his head. "I'm here."

"That we've already established. But we have to get back downstairs before we have some serious explaining to do. How long have we been here?"

He checked his watch. "About fifteen minutes."

Audrey raised her eyebrows. "Impressive."

"I work well under pressure."

"I'll remember that," she said, kissing him quickly.

Jack stepped back from her. "We're quite a sight."

Audrey assessed the situation. "You," she said pointing at him, "Stay here and make yourself look presentable. I'm going in there," she pointed at the bathroom, "To freshen up."

She passed by Jack and grabbed her underwear off the floor on the way, closing the bathroom door behind her. A few minutes and several wardrobe adjustments later, she evaluated herself in the mirror, satisfied that she no longer looked like a woman who had just been well and truly fucked. For she had no illusions that that was exactly what had just happened.

She opened the door to find Jack equally dressed.

"Do I look presentable?" he asked, spreading his arms.

She eyed him. "Wearing pants certainly helps. Jack, do you realize that we just left the Secretary of Defense and a senator of the United States downstairs to come up here and have incredibly inappropriate, albeit wildly mind-blowing, sex?"

"I'm not even sure they've realized we're gone, they were so busy arguing. Mind-blowing, huh?" he repeated, grinning, swaggering toward her and slipping her arms around her. She grinned back.

"Definitely mind-blowing."

Audrey put her arms around him and idly looked over his shoulder into the main part of the room, for the first time noticing how nice it was.

"It's a shame we didn't get to use the rest of this room," she commented. "I mean, judging by the front hallway, it's got potential."

"Who says we're not going to?" Jack said, stepping back and flashing the key card at her, "The guy downstairs told me I had it until 11:00 tomorrow morning."

Audrey grinned again.

"Excellent."


Jack arrived back at the table just as Senator Thomas was standing up.

"Jack," Secretary Heller said upon seeing him. "Are you feeling better?"

"Yes, much, thank you, sir," he answered, not able to quite meet his eye. How did one look a man in the eye after having just had his daughter in a very compromising position in a room upstairs?

As a matter of fact, who in their right mind got involved with the boss' daughter anyway? Let alone this boss' daughter?

Since the answer to both those questions was clearly "an insane man," Jack turned his attention to the senator instead.

"Are you leaving already, Senator?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so. I have another appointment to get to. It was very nice meeting you, Mr. Bauer," he said.

"You as well, sir," Jack answered, shaking the senator's offered hand. The older man left, and Jack and Heller sat back down at the table.

"How did the rest of the meeting go?" he asked.

"About as expected. Bill and I may not agree on much, but he's fair and direct at least. Jack, did you happen to see Audrey while you were out there?"

Jack was momentarily caught off guard. Was he really asking that?

Yes, the thought came unbidden to his head. I just saw a lot of her.

"No, why, has she been gone long?" he managed to answer in a mild tone.

"She left a few minutes after you. Something about a call from the office."

"I'm sure it's just taking longer than expected." Jack saw Audrey out of the corner of his eye, making her way from the opposite direction from which he'd come. "There she is, sir."

Audrey slid back into her seat.

"Everything okay?" Heller asked.

"Yes, fine."

"Were you able to resolve the issue?"

"Hmm?" Audrey said, sipping her water. "Oh, yes. It was one of our smaller contractors. But I think I got it straightened out."

"Glad to hear it," her father answered and signaled to the waiter for the check. But Jack chimed in, feeling daring.

"Are you sure? Those smaller ones are hard to hold on to. There's a lot of competition in the market."

Audrey turned to face him and fixed him with her cool blue eyes.

"I'm not worried, Jack. When I spoke to him just now, he seemed very appreciative of the fact that I had taken time out for him. I don't think he's going anywhere anytime soon."

Touché.

"I wouldn't worry, Jack," Heller advised, signing the check. "If Audrey's confident they'll be staying with us, then I'm sure they will. She can be very persuasive."


Underneath the table, Audrey felt Jack squeeze her knee.

"I'm sure she is, sir."


I warned you there was no redeeming plot, didn't I? ;) If you've got any feedback, I'd love to hear it!