7.02am, Alex's house, Los Angeles

Alex sat up quickly, before realising that the events of the past day or so may have been a dream. He was slightly sceptical of the theory, as the dream had been far more complex and realistic than any dream he had had before. That was, until the radio announced that it was a sunny Thursday morning, and Alex had been expecting it to be Friday. Sitting at the end of his bed, he decided not to dwell on it. After all, realistic or not, he was aware of just how powerful the subconscious was, and the plot of the dream was not exactly impossible when it came to working at CTU.

10.15am (Boston time), Tru's apartment

Not having to go into work for hours gave Tru the chance to have a lie-in. However, she woke up and knew exactly what had happened as soon as she picked up the newspaper from the doormat. It had been months since the last rewind, and she had hoped that it had finally left her alone. Wondering if Jack Harper was involved, she knew that she had to be quick.

7.30am (Los Angeles time), a road in Los Angeles

Alex was slowly making his way through the morning traffic, and trying hard to get the image of his dead sister out of his mind. Wondering why the dream had seemed so vivid, he suddenly had a second theory. Grabbing his phone, he dialled a number that he had only used a couple of times before, to a side of the family he had little contact with.

"Tru, it's Alex," he spoke as she answered. He remembered a few years ago, when he had been in Boston, a story that Harrison had drunkenly told him about Tru and how she relived days. He had assumed that Harrison just had an overactive imagination, but not any more.

"Alex, what's up? I wasn't expecting to hear from you," Tru responded. She had seen her cousin only a few times in the past few years, once in Boston and once in Los Angeles. The visit to California had happened just a couple of weeks after Nina's arrest, and both Tru and Alex had been shocked by the revelations about Nina.

"Remember when I came to Boston a few years ago? Well, Harrison told me a story about you, that you relive days. I thought it was just the alcohol talking, but I now have first hand evidence that it wasn't," Alex replied, certain that he was reliving a day. There had been many similarities between his journey that morning and the journey he had had before the day rewound.

"It's you? Who died, Alex?," Tru asked, confused and sort of anxious. This was the first time she had rewound without her or Jack Harper being directly involved.

"Nina died, Tru. She was involved in some drug deal, Jack Bauer brought her back to CTU, she tried to escape and he shot her. I was next to her body when she asked me to help her," Alex informed her, confused as to what he was supposed to do. The events leading to Nina's death were numerous and the whole day had been so convoluted that he was sure that he wasn't going to be able to save her.

"Alex, you need to find a way to stop her dying. I mean, I don't have any real experience of federal agencies, but I'm sure you'll be able to do it. I'll keep my cell on, so call if you need help," Tru responded, not exactly sure how she could help in any way. It wasn't as if she had some sort of manual to help her, and she knew that even the tiniest mistake could set her up for failure. She wondered why Nina had asked for help – she wasn't exactly an innocent, and her life sounded truly awful, even if it was mostly due to her own actions. Not quite sure what to make of her cousin's death at the hands of her former lover, she decided not to dwell on it until Alex called her again.

7.45am, CTU Los Angeles

Jack Bauer, one of the vast majority who were blissfully unaware that a tiny minority of three were reliving the day, was busy. As Head of Field Operations, he was one of the most important agents at CTU, and the workload showed it. Although he was not exactly fond of the place, he had many reasons for sticking with the agency. Some of those were loyalty to country, loyalty to friends, and the need for closure in regards to Nina Myers. He knew that working at CTU would mean that he would know far more about her whereabouts than if he were a civilian. He assumed that she was still in North Africa, although she had in reality escaped to Europe some years before. Looking down at the bullpen, he noticed Alex walking to his station. Alex had become one of his most trusted and closest friends, and although he did have doubts about how sincere Alex's loyalty was, he didn't think that Alex was a terrorist or sleeper agent lurking in the shadows, waiting to be activated. The doubts were simply because of Alex's relation to Nina, and that he seemed to still have some love for her.

As Alex sat down, he looked over at some of the people who had been heavily involved in the events of the day before – Kim, who had almost been killed by Nina minutes before Nina herself died. Gael, the false mole who had been tortured rather than give out information on the sting operation. Tony, who almost died from a gunshot wound after being shot in the neck. He was unsure when he was supposed to disrupt fate and save Nina. He knew that she would be in Mexico that night, but he had no idea what he was supposed to do – going to Jack and telling him the story would not help at all, and even Jack with his secret heroin addiction would be seen as more sane. Realising that he knew far more than anyone else in the building, he decided that he would have to be careful with what he said and what he did. Although there was no possibility of anyone knowing that it was a replay day, he knew that any strange actions would see him sent home, and being sent home would mean death for Nina.

11.00am (Boston time), cafe in Boston

Tru sighed as Jack Harper sat down at the table. She disliked the man immensely, but realised that she had to tell him the truth about the rewind day.

"You calling me sort of helps me out, Tru. Helps me out even more if you give me some information on who you're trying to save," Jack spoke. He had a job as her opposite – where she attempted to restore life, he attempted to maintain death.

"It's not me who's trying to save someone, Jack. It's my cousin in Los Angeles, trying to save his sister," Tru replied.

"LA? Even if I travelled there, still plenty of time to stop him, Tru," Jack replied with a smirk, and started to stand up. Tru hadn't given him much to go on, but he knew that her father was a resourceful man, and that he could track down her cousin within a matter of hours.

"It happened inside a federal building, Jack. My cousin is a federal agent, and I doubt even you could get into CTU. His sister is a terrorist," Tru spoke, struggling to call her cousin a terrorist. She had known Nina from a young age, and had seen no strange behaviour. Nina had been an intelligent student, and could have had a bright future. Jack sat back down, interested.

"A fed is trying to save a terrorist? Even if she is his sister, why would he save someone like that?," Jack asked. He had always been affected when the victim had been murdered or died in an accident, but this victim seemed to be nothing more than a mass murderer, someone who was not exactly a pillar of society.

"I know you don't really get the concept, Jack, but she asked him for help, and he wants to save her, no matter what she has done," Tru replied, standing up. She knew that Jack was necessary, in order to balance the universe, but she was irritated by him, and although she tried not to waste energy by hating him, she found it difficult.

8.10am (Los Angeles time), CTU Los Angeles

Alex had been quietly looking through the intelligence on Michael Amador and Marcus Alvers, and he felt like a spy creeping through places where he shouldn't be. Both of the men had connections to Britain and to each other, but Alex found no connection either to CTU or to Nina. He heard someone pass behind him, and almost froze as the person said his name. Turning around, he saw that it was Chase Edmunds, Jack's new partner, and also Kim's as Alex had found out the day before.

"Alex, you seen Tony this morning? I'm sure he said he was coming early today," Chase spoke, and Alex was glad that his attention seemed to be anywhere but the computer screen.

"No, I haven't, sorry," Alex replied, hoping that Chase would soon leave. Nodding, Chase did indeed leave, heading for Jack's office. Alex hoped that the visit wouldn't involve a discussion about why he was looking at intelligence on Michael Amador.

Moving back around to his computer, Alex decided to look up information on Ramon Salazar. Finding some intelligence, he clicked on it, only for a warning to pop up telling him that his security clearance was too low for him to be able to access the information. Worried, Alex realised that someone higher up would be informed of his attempt to view the intel, and he knew that he could be arrested for it, which would leave Nina dead and him in jail. Looking up at Jack's office, he saw Jack and Chase deep in conversation. Although Jack was only a couple of levels higher than Alex, he being the Head of Field Ops compared to Alex being third in command behind Tony and Michelle with Jack being at the same level as Tony, when it came to security clearance, Alex was worried that Jack would get the message about his attempt, and if Jack didn't, Tony certainly would.

8.25am, CTU Los Angeles

Tony was sitting down at his desk, rubbing one eye as he started up his computer. Seeing the warning message flash on his screen, Tony groaned. He hated dealing with possible security risks this early in the morning, and Michelle noticed his exasperation, which became more audible as Tony read the agent's name.

"What is it Tony?," Michelle asked, as she approached his desk to look at the screen. As soon as she saw Alex's name, she realised just how Tony was taking it – badly.

"It's Alex, Michelle. I want to hear his side of the story, and I just hope he tells me the truth. I couldn't take it if he turned out to be like her," Tony replied, before reaching for his phone. Calling Alex's extension, he looked down at his friend, and hoped that there was a good, legitimate reason as to why Alex was looking up information on Salazar.

As Alex put the phone down, he felt like he wanted to flee CTU and go to Mexico and try and save Nina there. Knowing that to be a dim possibility, he sighed as he stood up. He had been careful with his words when talking to Tony, so that noone suspected that anything was wrong. Climbing the stairs to Tony's office, he realised that he had no explanation, or at least no believable explanation, for why he was researching Ramon Salazar. Knocking on the door, he saw Michelle's eyes staring at him, hungry for answers. She knew more than most how Nina's betrayal had hurt Tony and even though Tony and Alex's relationship was very different, it was strong and had stood the test of time and ordeals. Entering the room, he stood near Tony's desk until Tony gestured to him to sit.

"What's your interest in Ramon Salazar, Michael Amador and Marcus Alvers, Alex?," Tony enquired, eager to find out the truth. He looked at Alex, looking for any signs that he was lying. Knowing that Nina had been a brilliant liar, he also knew that if Alex was as good a liar as Nina, that he would be able to spin a bullshit but believable story in seconds.

"I just heard of those names a few times recently, Tony. I wasn't looking for anything specific, I was just curious. Besides, we all know about Salazar anyway, right? I didn't think there was much that needed to be kept to higher clearance levels," Alex replied. Tony was silent for a moment, and Alex could tell that he was thinking hard.

"I'll believe that for now, Alex, but if this happens again, I won't be so quick," Tony replied. Although he wasn't fully convinced by Alex's answer, it did sound feasible, and Salazar had been mentioned quite a few times around CTU over the past few months. He had hardly heard of the other two, but reasoned that as they were so low-key, that no group would bother risking a mole for intelligence on them. Noticing that Jack was looking at him and Alex from his office, he knew that he would have to tell Jack about Alex's attempted security breach. As Alex left the office, he saw Jack stand up.

Sitting back at his desk, Alex looked up at Tony's office, and was not surprised to see Jack there. He hoped that Jack would not become suspicious of him.

"He did what?," Jack spoke, turning to look at Alex, who had returned to his work. He had been dreading the day that Alex would be caught doing something he shouldn't, but was also relieved that it was nothing major.

"I don't think he knows about the sting operation, Jack, and I don't think he's a mole, but we have to keep an eye on him for now," Tony replied. He noticed that although Jack seemed a little angry, he wasn't about to have Alex arrested or do something drastic.

"That's fine with me. Let's just hope you're right, Tony," Jack said, as he looked down at Alex.