Dog Tags

A/N: It's been bugging me and bugging me ever since the end of the season. A detour from what I usually write. Probably just a one shot, from Kim's point of view, since the show makes her out to be a simpering idiot.

Jack Bauer wasn't dead.

Sure, she wasn't some hot-shot super agent, but she also wasn't a complete moron. She'd been playing this game for years and she knew how it worked, and she knew what to look for.

When Tony had shown up on her porch, her heart had dropped. "Kim, I have some bad news."

His mouth said it, but his eyes didn't.

"Jack's dead. I'm so sorry Kim." He was emotionless. Not acting like a man who'd just lost his best friend. He held his hand out to her, offering a familiar silver chain and tags. "These are Jack's. He once told me if anything ever happened to him, he wanted you to have them."

They both knew it was a lie, but she took the necklace and let the cool chain slither through her fingers. "Th-thank you."

"Kim are you okay?" Tony's voice held concern. "Where's Chase?"

She gave a vague smile, "I'm okay Tony."

He frowned and wrapped a hand around her upper arm. "Kim, I think you're in shock. Where's Chase?" He stuck his head into the house, "Chase? Chase?"

"Shh…He moved out a few weeks ago. Took Angela with him."

"But Jack said-"

"He didn't know. Really Tony, I'm fine. I've had years and several false alarms to prepare me for this. I knew it would happen sooner or later." She met his frowning eyes. "It hurts, but he's happy now. He's with mom and the baby."

"Right," he agreed. He continued hesitantly, "Look Kim, the circumstances surrounding Jack's death are shaky at best."

"What does that mean?"

"The government isn't going to acknowledge his death. He's going to be buried as a John Doe."

"Doesn't really matter does it? He's dead right?"

"Yeah Kim. He is."

They stared at each other for a moment before Kim spoke again. "Thank you for bringing the news yourself. I appreciate it."

He nodded, "It's the least I could do." He leaned forward and gave her a hug, "If there's anything you need-"

"Thanks," she said pulling away, "but from now on, I think I'll stick to depending on me."

"Take care of yourself Kim."

She smiled, "I plan to."

She watched him drive away, then walked back into the house, ignoring the half-packed moving boxes around her. She held the dog tags up and watched them twist on the chain. The fracture in the lie.

Dog tags were a soldier's identity. Everything anyone wanted to know about them was contained on the metal. Many times, the tags were all that identified a dead soldier, and were sent back to his family. Kim remembered asking her father about them when she was little, and getting the response, "These are who I am sweetheart. I'm going to be buried with these that way God knows who I am."

She wasn't a government agent, and she didn't have the most concrete evidence, but she knew one thing for certain.

Jack Bauer wasn't dead.