Renee opened the conference room door and the motion flicked on the light. A movement in the corner of the room startled her, and she turned to see Larry pushing himself to sitting on the couch against the wall.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were in here."

He yawned and stretched before running a hand over his face to rub the sleep from his eyes.

"What time is it?" his voice had the thick quality of the poorly-rested.

"Seven." She took in his rumpled appearance. "Geez, Larry. You've got to stop sleeping here all the time. People are going to start thinking Christine kicked you out."

She meant it to be a light-hearted comment, a gentle reminder that he is working too hard, but something in the way his shoulders sag tells her that's not the way he's taking it.

She moved to the couch and sat next to him, her eyebrows knitting in concern. "What's going on? Did Christine kick you out?"

He grimaced, trying to keep it light and failing miserably. "Yeah, I guess she did."

"Oh, Larry. I'm sorry." Renee handed him her untouched cup of coffee, watching as he hid his face behind it.

"She said I was spending too much time at work."

Renee waited. There is something else, something he isn't telling her. She knows him well enough not to push.

"That stake-out last week was the final straw." He glanced at her over the rim of the mug and the penny dropped.

"Why? Because you were with me? Does she think there's something going on?"

He shrugged and nodded.

"Larry, that's ridiculous."

"Of course it is." If she didn't know him so well, she wouldn't have seen the flinch.

She reached out a hand to rest gently on his arm. "I know how much you love her," her words sounded hollow even to her. "Do you want me to call her? Tell her nothing happened?"

"No! God, no. That would just give credence to her ideas. No, it's alright, Renee. I'll handle it." He handed her back the coffee and reached for his jacket, which is folded over the arm of the couch. Standing, he put on the jacket as if he were drawing a curtain over his heart. His manner became businesslike as he rummaged in the pocket of the jacket and took out his tie.

"What have you got for me?" He flipped up his shirt collar and circled his neck, tying the tie perfectly without looking.

Renee took the folder balanced on her knee and stood. She spread the contents of the file over the smooth surface of the conference table. "I think I found a way to Almeida. Several years ago he worked closely with Jack Bauer."

"Bauer?" Larry raised his eyebrows. "Isn't he about to go before the Congressional Committee?"

"That's right. Almedia and Bauer were at CTU at the same time, and judging by the file, they were close."

"How so?"

"They worked on a complicated sting operation against Ramon Salazar that had a very small circle of CTU people involved. Even their immediate superior didn't know all of the details. If anyone understands how Almeda thinks, it would be Bauer."

Renee pushed a photo towards Larry and waited. He picked it up from the table and studied the image.

"This looks like a funeral."

"It is. Jack Bauer's funeral."

Larry looked at Renee for an explanation.

"Bauer faked his own death to escape persecution for his role in the shooting at the Chinese Embassy. Look at Almeda's face in the photo."

Larry looked back at the photo and nodded. "He doesn't look too torn up about it. You think he helped Bauer fake his death. Do you think Bauer returned the favour?"

Renee shook her head. "No. I considered the possibility, but Bauer was captured by the Chinese the morning Almeda died. There wasn't time for him to help."

"Does Bauer know Almeda is still alive?"

She shook her head again. "I don't believe so."

Larry was silent while he skimmed through the contents of the file. After a few minutes he stared at Renee. "You honestly think this guy will help us?"

"If it gets him out of the hearings, yes I do."

Larry rubbed the back of his neck thoughtfully. "I don't know Renee. He's all over the map and he's extremely violent. Plus, he obviously has a great deal of loyalty to Almeda. I'm not sure appealing to his own self-interest is going to be enough to turn him."

"Larry, one of my instructors at the academy worked with Bauer. He said that whatever else, Agent Bauer always made the choices that would save the greatest number of lives, no matter what the cost to him personally."

He snorted. "No matter what the cost to the Constitution, either. God, the self-righteousness of guys like this drives me nuts. Don't they realize the harm they do? Don't they know how much harder they make it for everyone else to do our jobs?"

"Larry, we're not asking him to resume active duty."

He took a sip of coffee and sighed. "Okay. Then that's the approach to use. Don't offer him any deals. Just convince him that Almeda is alive and appeal to his patriotism.