Thank you all for being so (3 months...) patient with me for this fic!
And also I'd like to thank the 6 of you who left reviews you made me all so happy, thank you!
So anyway, here's chapter 2.
This is Jack's first day working for Heller, and the first time that he meets Audrey (AU, remember because we don't quite know how they met...)
And yeah, the last part is a flashback to when before all this - if you look at the dates, it's something like half a year or a year before I've set this chapter ahah.
Also, I'm going as close as I can by the time that in the 24 world days 1-9 I guess happened so...
Please enjoy! And follow and favourite and review ;) xo
Chapter 2 - Eyes Open
09:20 A.M. - 30th November 2009 - DoD Headquarters, The Pentagon
Jack Bauer walked confidently into the Department of Defense headquarters in Arlington, Virginia County after leaving his family, his home and his whole life back in Los Angeles. He walked up to the reception desk and asked for secretary Heller. He was directed to security.
Once he had passed through that he was sent up to the 3rd floor to secretary Heller's office. As he emerged through the doors of the elevator, he looked around the hall he was in. Many people walked up and down. The walls were covered in photos of past DoD members and other things.
"May I be of any assistance to you, sir?" A woman approached Jack. She was in her mid-thirties, she had long, blonde hair tied up in a neat half up, half down style and she was wearing a beige pant suit with a pearl white shirt and a thin, sliver necklace around her neck. Jack was momentarily speechless as he admired her beauty.
"I'm," Jack began, "I'm just looking for Secretary of Defense Heller?" As he said that he looked into the woman's eyes and noticed how sad they looked. They had no shine, no glimmer of light, no personality to them.
"Yes, that's right down here, may I ask, do you have an appointment?" The woman asked.
"Sort of." He replied.
"Sort of?" She asked.
"I'm his new advisor." Jack said, somewhat proudly.
"Oh." The woman replied, she kept a small smile of her face at all times so it was impossible for him to figure out what she was really thinking.
"Jack Bauer." Jack said, extending his hand. "And you are?"
"Audrey Raines," she extended out her hand and shook his. "Senior policy analyst here at DoD."
"It's a pleasure, Ms. Raines." Jack said.
"Likewise." Audrey replied graciously. They looked into each other's eyes for a moment, both feeling that oh so familiar pull of attraction, yet Audrey especially did not want to advance any further with those feelings. "Let me show you to Secretary Heller's office. This way." Audrey said, breaking the moment between them. Jack looked away from Audrey's face and obediently followed her down the hallway.
Within a matter of seconds they were at Secretary Heller's office. Audrey knocked on the door and awaited a response.
"Yes?" Secretary James Heller called out from the other side of the door. Audrey opened the door and stepped inside, Jack closely behind her.
"Ah, Audrey." He said. "What can I do for you?"
"This is Jack Bauer." Audrey said, introducing their company.
"Mr. Bauer!" James exclaimed. "I've been eagerly awaiting your arrival."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir." Jack said, extending his hand. James extended his hand also and shook Jack's.
"That'll be all, Audrey. Thanks." James said to his daughter, hinting that she could leave now. She nodded.
"It was a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Bauer." She said as she exited. Jack smiled.
"So, you've met my daughter then?" Heller said, laughing.
"Ms. Raines is your daughter?" Jack queried.
"Okay, well don't tell her I said that to you but yes, I'm sure you'd figure it out soon enough so I may as well tell you now." James said.
"All right, sir." Jack said. "What do you need me to do today?"
01:14 P.M. - DoD Headquarters, the Pentagon
Jack Bauer now had an hour for lunch, and he couldn't help but want to spend it with Audrey. So he decided he'd try and find her desk. It didn't take long, well, with the help of the floors receptionist. He drew in a deep breath and proceeded to walk up to her desk.
"Ms. Raines." He said as he approached.
"Mr. Bauer!" Audrey said, not expecting to see him standing there. "Can I help you with something?"
"I…" Jack began, and then he laughed gently. "I was wondering if you would fancy having lunch with me?" He was growing anxious over her impending answer. He hoped to death that she would accept his offer.
"What, now?" She asked, eyebrows raised.
"If you're free, if not another time, maybe?" Jack answered. Audrey looked down at her desk and the papers that lay upon it and then back up at Jack.
"You know what?" Audrey began. "I'd love to." She smiled gracefully at him. Jack felt so relieved. That could've gone much worse.
01:19 P.M. - DoD Headquarters, DoD cafeteria, the Pentagon
Audrey and Jack stood in line in the cafeteria belonging to the DoD.
"Can you suggest anything?" Jack asked, trying to make conversation.
"The burgers are pretty good, the fish has been off a couple of times so unless you're a gambling with salmonella kinda guy, I'd avoid that, and the salads are great." Audrey said. Her comment about the food made him feel more at ease.
"You come down here often?" He enquired.
"Every now and then." Audrey said. There was a brief silence that made the both of them a little uncomfortable so Audrey decided to add on to her response. "Normally I get so bogged down in my work I don't usually make it down here within my lunch hour."
"When I worked for CTU I never had a lunch break." Jack said, they both laughed gently. "I like this, it's not as 100% action 100% of the time like it was there."
"Do you miss the action of CTU?" Audrey asked. Jack thought a moment before answering.
"A bit, but as I said I like the… calmness of this job." Jack said.
"Just you wait until something major happens, it can get pretty intense." Audrey warned.
"How can I help you, miss?" The man behind the counter asked as Jack and Audrey got to the front of the line. "Oh Audrey! Nice to see you down here!"
"Hi George." Audrey said, smiling. "Nice to see you, too." George then looked over at Jack with a questioning look. Audrey caught this and laughed gently.
"George, this is Jack Bauer, he's Secretary Heller's new advisor." Audrey introduced. She then turned to Jack. "And Jack, this is George. He's worked here for ages, longer than me I think. But he's fun to have a conversation with."
"Fun? I'm sure there's a better word to describe me." George protested.
"How about cashier, there's people waiting." Audrey said with a wink. "I'll have the salad, please."
"That'll be $2." George said. Audrey handed him two dollar bills and he handed her a salad bowl. "Thanks." She said.
"Mr. Bauer? What can I get for you?" George asked. Jack scanned the menu. "I'll have the ham and cheddar sandwich, please."
"That'll be $3.50." George said. Jack handed him the money and he was handed a sandwich by one of the chefs.
"Thanks, and nice to meet you." Jack said.
"You too, Mr. B." George said. Audrey laughed and proceeded to find a table. She sat down, followed shortly by Jack.
"You know, you didn't advise me on the sandwiches, so if I die after eating this I will blame you." Jack said jokingly.
"Mmhmm... " Audrey replied, laughing. After swallowing a bite of her salad she started a conversation. "So, what have you done this morning?" Audrey asked.
"Not much, actually." Jack said, laughing. "Heller had me get familiar with some current issues he's looking into. What about you?"
"What about me?" Audrey asked.
"What did you do this morning?" Jack asked.
"I… Oh right, I looked at this study the NSA did on a military branch to see if it's findings corroborated with what I could find." Audrey answered.
"And did it?" Jack asked.
"Most of it, I did find some anomalies in a part concerning their funding, I guess that's my job for this afternoon." Audrey said, laughing at the daunting thought of researching that all afternoon. Despite Audrey's words and laughter, Jack noticed the familiar almost lifeless look in her eyes that he had first noticed this morning. They both ate a bit more of their food in silence for a few moments. "So, Jack Bauer… There seems to be a lot to know about you, wanna help me out?" Audrey asked, getting curious.
"Same about you, Ms. Raines." He replied, smirking.
"All right, you tell me one thing about you, and I tell you one thing about me, deal?" Audrey asked.
"Deal." Jack agreed.
"You first." Audrey said. She took another bite of her salad whilst she waited for his answer.
"I used to work at CTU: Los Angeles." Jack said.
"Oh come on, it has to be something I don't know." Audrey said, laughing.
"Fine." Jack said, also laughing. "I have a 27 year old daughter named Kim."
"Wow, really?" Audrey asked.
"Yep." Jack said.
"How old are you then?" Audrey enquired, laughing.
"Ah nope. Something about you first." Jack said, crossing his arms and also laughing.
"All right…" Audrey said, she began thinking of what she could say. "Secretary Heller is my father."
"I knew that, new one." Jack said, laughing.
"How?" Audrey asked. Jack stopped for a second, trying to figure out how to explain this without implicating Heller's and his conversation about romances.
"Secretary Heller. He just said it in passing." Jack said. Audrey narrowed her eyes at him but soon began laughing so she stopped.
"That never works." She said, still laughing. "Okay, um… I love country music."
"Nice." Jack said, smiling. It only took a matter of seconds for them both to begin laughing once again. Jack was just about to say something when Audrey abruptly got up.
"I-I-I'm sorry, Mr. Bauer." She stuttered. Jack began to get worried. "I-I-I have to g-go." She left her plate on the table and practically ran out of the cafeteria. Jack was left at the table. He felt considerably worried and concerned about Audrey. But he had no idea what he couple possibly do.
Meanwhile...
After suddenly leaving her lunch with Jack, Audrey turned into the women's restroom. She checked that no one was in there, and when she was satisfied that no one was, she locked the door. She walked towards the row of 4 sinks and placed both hands on the marble top. She bowed her head slightly as she collected her breath. She could see the tears that had fallen from her eyes land on the surface. She looked up into the mirror and saw just what a mess she was. She laughed as she wiped the tears from under her eyes.
"This is pathetic." She said to herself. She knew what it was that was causing this. Ever since that night she had the fight with Paul and miscarried she'd warded away any attempts of potential romantic relationships. But there was something about Jack Bauer that just drew her to him, and when she realised that, it freaked her out. And she did the only thing she knew how to do; leave. The idea that she may subconsciously be letting herself fall for him, made her remember what happened the last time she fell for someone. It was great while it lasted, then it all went to hell and she came out more broken than she ever was before. She wiped away the few remaining tears and composed herself. And then she headed back into DoD and back to work.
01:42 P.M. - DoD Headquarters, the Pentagon
Audrey stepped off the elevator and back onto the floor in which she walked. She walked past the receptionist and through a maze of workstations until she reached hers. Jack had returned to the floor shortly after Audrey had left him. He was sifting through some old case files as he noticed the blonde walking back in. Feeling concerned about her, Jack rose from the desk he was currently working at and walked over to Audrey's.
"Hey." He said quietly. Audrey looked up to see who it was. "Are you alright?" He asked. He also noticed the redness of her eyes, indicating that she had been crying not long ago.
"Yes." She replied quickly returning to her work.
"Audr-" Jack began, but was cut off.
"I'm fine, Jack. Please drop it." She said quickly. Jack took this as a sign that she didn't want to talk, but that wasn't going to stop him. But he decided to drop it for now.
"All right." He said. "Have a nice day."
"You too." Audrey said. Jack walked away but his mind was still focused on Audrey. He'd only known her for a few hours, but he could - and so could she - feel that instant pull between them, and their lunch - before she left - was one of the most enjoyable times that he'd had in quite a while. He thought back to what Secretary Heller had said; She's been hurt too much already in this lifetime. He wondered if this had anything to do with what had happened…
08:09 P.M. - Raines Residence - Gordonsville, Orange County, Virginia
Audrey sat down on her sofa in her living room with a glass of red wine in hand. She was just about to pick up her book when she heard a knocking at her door. She tensed up immediately, no one would normally come around this late. She put her glass down on the table and walked up to the door. She opened it slowly.
"Don't be mad." Jack said. "I found your address in the DoD files. Again, please don't be mad."
"You're not allowed to do that." Audrey said, but she couldn't help but find his breach of protocol to be rather romantic. She noticed he was holding a brown paper bag. "What's in the bag?" She asked.
"Wine, chocolate and I don't really know what kinda movies you're into, so I found Casablanca, Brief Encounter, Sophie's Choice and Schindler's List. So you can pick." Jack said. Audrey looked at him with a look that said there's more to it than that. "...And after lunch today, I thought maybe you could use a friend."
"Well, I don't really think I can say no now." Audrey said. "Come on in."
"Thank you." Jack said. Jack made his way inside Audrey's home and looked around. It was quite big, but not too big. Cosy, but not claustrophobic. A very professional, yet feminine design. Jack removed his shoes at the door and placed them by a few pairs of Audrey's and followed her into her living room.
"You can sit on the sofa, if you'd like, or wherever." Audrey said, her voice getting quieter at the end. Jack noticed that but decided that it'd be best if he ignored it for now. "I'll get two…" She started saying but paused when she remembered she had hers already on the table. "Another wine glass." She brought it over and placed it down on the table next to hers. Jack pulled out the wine he had brought, the chocolate and the four DVDs.
"So, Brief Encounter, Schindler's List, Casablanca or Sophie's Choice?" Jack asked. "I'm sorry for the narrow choice, I really did have no idea what you like…"
"It's fine." Audrey said sitting down on the sofa next to Jack. "Casablanca and Schindler's List are actually two of my most favourite movies." Jack felt relieved.
"So, which one shall we watch?" Jack asked.
"You can pick." Audrey said.
"Are you sure?" Jack asked. Audrey nodded. "Okay… Schindler's List?"
"Sounds great." Audrey picked up the DVD from the table and got up and put it in her DVD player. She took the remote and then sat back down. Whilst she was getting it set up, Jack pulled out the wine and the chocolate from his bag.
"Again, I had no idea what you like, so I hope red wine - well I can see that you like red wine," Jack said, looking towards Audrey's glass on the table. "And as for the chocolate, I got milk, white and dark."
"To be perfectly honest with you, I can't stand dark." Audrey said, laughing. "But I love the others." Despite her laugh, Jack could still see that almost lifeless look in Audrey's eyes, and still felt terribly concerned. Audrey saw Jack about to start pouring the wine so she quickly finished off the small amount she had left in her glass. She was about to press play when Jack began talking.
"About earlier…" He began, Audrey was about to stop him, but part of her wanted to see where he was going to go with this. "I, I guess I've just been really concerned about you all day… You know, you can tell me, if you want. I mean I'll have an unbiased point seeing as I've only known you since, well today." Audrey smiled and looked down.
"Thank you, Jack." She said. "But if you don't mind, for now I guess, I'd prefer not to…"
"All right." Jack said, respecting her wishes. He could see the tears forming ever so slightly in her eyes. "Come here." He said. He then pulled her into a semi-tight embrace. He wrapped his arms around her small frame and held her. She first didn't hug him back, but after a few moments she did. She'd only known this man for about 12 hours, but she felt safe. But she felt the same with Paul when they first met, and the thought that this could end like that did scared her terribly so she built up walls when it came to romance, and Jack Bauer was going to be no exception. But for the moment, his embrace was making her feel better so she let it happen. A tear did escape her cheek and landed on his shirt, but luckily for her he didn't notice. She broke off the embrace after about 15 seconds and cleared her throat. She once again picked up the remote and hit play, starting the movie. By 10 minutes in, Audrey had rested her head of his shoulder and he had wrapped his right arm around her. They both felt the need to feel another human being because both had been estranged from contact like this for so long. They remained like that for the rest of the movie.
13:04 P.M. - 26th September 2008 - Tryst Café, Washington D.C.
"So?" Audrey asked from her end of the table. "Why did you want to talk?"
"You've been avoiding me for the past 5 months and those are the first words I get from you? Who'd have ever thought we were ever married." Paul said, laughing.
"Paul, I'm here voluntarily, I could just as easily walk out that door right now. What do you want?" Audrey pressed. This was the first time that she'd seen Paul since that night when she stormed out and also had the miscarriage and she was beginning to get anxious over the whole situation. She had no idea quite how distressing seeing her husband again would be. Paul sighed.
"I want to try again." He said simply.
"Try again, don't you think me ignoring you for the past 5 months tells you that I don't want to try again." Audrey said. She got up, picked up her purse and her jacket and stormed out of the café. Paul got up and ran after her, fearing that if he let her go this time then this would be it. Audrey had got to the local park by the time Paul had caught up to her.
"Audrey!" He yelled loudly when he was just a few feet behind her.
"What?!" She yelled equally as loudly as she turned around. Tears were already in her eyes, and Pau noticed. Audrey was always so strong, but she would get really emotional when things hit too close to home or were extremely distressing. He'd noticed that time and time again whilst they were still married.
"Please. I'm truly, truly sorry for everything that I ever did to you." Paul apologised. The pair still kept their distance.
"You're sorry? You don't know half the stuff you did to me." Audrey yelled.
"I am sorry!" Paul yelled back. "I know everything I did, and I am truly, very sorry."
"You don't know everything!" Audrey yelled. "You don't know everything! That night, when you made that remark about me only having my job because of my father's position," Audrey stopped yelling for a seconds to wipe the tears off her her face that had been streaming down her rosy cheeks. When she realised that they weren't stopping any time soon, she carried on. "I had a miscarriage!" Paul was shocked. She pointed at a bench by the side of them. "Right there, right there on that bench. I blacked out pretty quickly but the doctors at Sibley say that some people called an ambulance, and I had had a miscarriage." She was no longer yelling, her voice had turned to a strangled whisper. The tears streamed down her cheeks as she recalled the memory. Paul was rendered speechless. He had absolutely no idea that Audrey had suffered a miscarriage, let alone been pregnant. His mind was flooded with emotions, anger, denial, sadness, guilt and even grief. "So," Audrey said. "As I said, you don't know half the things that you did to me. Now, leave me alone."