Chapter 2.

Kate took the phone away from Audrey's ear. "Jack, it's okay. It's okay," Kate said trying in vain to sound like she believed what she was saying.

"Are you sure?" Jack asked. His voice was breaking with emotion. "Kate, don't let her die! You can't let her die!" He begged as if it rested in Kate's hands. "What's going on? How is she doing?"

"She's breathing, Jack, but she lost consciousness. The medics think she's in shock from blood loss. She's got a pulse and a blood pressure but they're lower than they were a few minutes ago. Listen to me. We're landing now. The medical team is waiting on the helipad. She'll be in surgery in a couple of minutes. I'll keep you posted." Kate paused for a second. "Go get Cheng, Jack. Do it for Audrey." Kate bit her lip to hold back tears then she swallowed hard and got herself under control. She watched as the medical team unloaded the gurney from the helicopter and ran to the building. She followed several paces behind and didn't stop until they entered the medical suite where Eric Ritter stood waiting for her. His stance, with his hands on his hips, told her that she was in trouble.

"You want to tell me what's going on? What were you doing out there running a rogue operation to save the President's daughter? I've got two agents injured because of an unsanctioned operation. Not to mention the fact that Secret Service is crawling up my butt because one of my agents knew where Audrey Boudreau was and that she was in trouble and didn't tell them. The President's family and staff are the responsibility of the Secret Service not the CIA. What were you thinking?"

"I'm sorry, Eric. I didn't have a choice. Cheng had Audrey pinned down by a sniper and if they spotted CIA or Secret Service mounting a rescue attempt, they were going to kill her. I took in a small crew for a surgical extraction. Unfortunately, it didn't go the way it was supposed to. We got the sniper but we had no way of knowing there was a secondary shooter." The answer seemed to placate Eric so Kate decided to keep going. "Does the President know yet?"

"No, I told Secret Service everything I knew and they passed it on to Ron Clark. He's acting Chief of Staff right now. He'll tell the President just as soon as he can."

"Where's Mark Boudreau?" Kate asked.

"Secret Service is bringing him back from Knightsbridge. He's under arrest for treason. Do you know anything about that?"

"It's a long story," Kate told him. "I'm going to sit here in medical and wait while Audrey's in surgery. I'll write my after action report. It'll be on your desk in a few hours."

Kate and Eric turned in opposite directions but both stopped when they heard Gavin's voice. "I have Jack Bauer on live comm link." Everyone watched the monitors to see Jack holding a bloody Cheng Zhi in front of the camera. They all knew who he was but were forced to wait out the endless seconds while facial recognition verified it. Kate looked around and could see that everyone was holding their breath while they waited for the President to talk to Chinese President Wei. They couldn't hear the conversation but could tell by the look on his face that the two had come to terms. The relief in the room was palpable and President Heller allowed himself a slight smile. His happiness, however was short lived. He knew immediately that something was wrong by the expression on Ron Clark's face.

"Mr. President, I need to talk to you," Clark said as he approached the president.

Never one to mince words, Heller was blunt. "What's wrong now?" he asked. Heller was at his limit and everyone could tell. He had handled the crisis well but he thought it was over and he had relaxed. Handing him yet another crisis when neither of his two top advisors, Audrey or Mark, was present was almost more than he could bear.

Clark drew a breath and then spoke. "It's Audrey. She's down in the medical unit, Sir."

"Medical unit? Is she alright? What happened?"

"Cheng was apparently watching her, Sir. It's a long story, but he tried to kill her. She was shot in the abdomen. Right now she's in surgery."

"How could this have happened? She was at a covert meet with her Secret Service detail."

Ron shook his head. "Jiao Sim and the Secret Service agents are all dead. Jack Bauer sent Agent Morgan and an extraction team to rescue Audrey."

"How is she?" Heller asked. He no longer looked like the President of the United States. Now he looked like a worried parent, his blue eyes wide and full of concern. Almost involuntarily Heller and Clark began to walk down the steps and toward the medical unit with Heller's Secret Service detail in tow.

"The doctors are optimistic but there aren't any guarantees, Sir," Clark told him.

"Mr. President," one of Heller's staff was coming up quickly from behind with a phone in hand. "Jack Bauer is requesting to speak with you on a secure line. I wouldn't bother you but he says it's urgent."

Heller took the phone. "Jack, what's going on? Why do we need a secure line?"

"First, Mr. President, I need to know how Audrey is doing," Jack said.

"I'm just getting the details now, Jack. She's in surgery. My understanding is that the surgeons are cautiously optimistic. Do you know what happened?

"I know some of the story but not all of it. Talk to Agent Morgan. She can fill in all of the details. I'm just happy Audrey seems to be holding her own," Jack said quietly.

"Let's get to the point, Jack, that wasn't the reason you called on a secure line."

"You're right, Mr. President, right now I'm on the bridge of the freighter with Cheng. No one is here to witness anything that happens so we can keep this between you and me. A couple of hours ago, Audrey asked me to kill Cheng and I'd like your permission to do it."

Heller looked around before he spoke. He was surrounded by Secret Service and members of his staff and they didn't need to hear what he was going to say next. He saw an empty office nearby. "Excuse me gentlemen, I need some privacy." He stepped into the office and closed the door.

"Jack, after what Cheng did to Audrey, do you really have to ask me if you can kill him? Do it," the President said succinctly and emphatically. "Kill the bastard."

"I just want to be clear that I'm killing him on your order," Jack explained.

"Since when do you ask for permission to kill an enemy of the state?" Heller asked.

"Since your administration labeled me a terrorist four years ago when I did just that."

"That's an exaggeration, Jack. You did more than kill an enemy of the state," Heller defended himself. "You had a personal vendetta. You wanted revenge and you hunted down those you thought responsible"

"To be clear, Mr. President, I killed people who engaged in terrorist acts directed against Americans and whose actions directly resulted in the death of someone I cared about. You can call that revenge if you like. What you're telling me to do right now is to kill Cheng because of what he did to Audrey. That's no different than what I did and I've paid for it for the last four years. I've had to give up my life and my family because of that, Sir."

James Heller was silent for a long moment. "Point well made, Jack," he said quietly. "And you're right. What I want right now is revenge. I want Cheng dead. I want to know that he can't ever hurt Audrey or anyone else again."

"I feel the same way, Mr. President. I'll make sure it looks like I was defending myself."

"Then come back to the CIA station. I know Audrey will want to see you when she wakes up."

Heller ended his conversation and walked out of the office just as the Secret Service was escorting Mark Boudreau into the CIA station.

"Mr. President," Mark said anxiously. "What's going on? Is Audrey alright? Did Jack get to Cheng?"

Heller was surprised by Boudreau's disheveled appearance. Mark was attractive and he knew it. His suits were perfectly tailored to fit his trim body. He hadn't allowed middle-age to expand his waistline. His hair may have been prematurely gray, but it gave him a distinguished look that he used to his advantage. He carried himself with a sexy swagger that, Heller noted, was present even as he walked through the CIA station in handcuffs.

Despite his betrayal, overall Mark had been a good Chief of Staff. Unfortunately, he had been a disappointment as a son-in-law. His marriage to Audrey had never gelled the way Heller had hoped and he regretted pressuring Audrey to marry Mark and give up on Jack. Even when they got married Heller knew that Mark would never love any woman as much as he loved himself, but he certainly cared for Audrey and had taken good care ofher. He loved her in his own way and his biggest downfall, other than his huge ego, was his jealousy in all things related to Jack Bauer which included Jack's son. Although they peacefully coexisted, Mark and Jeff had never had a close relationship. Mark resented the way Audrey doted on her son. What he never understood was that Audrey didn't dote on Jeff just because he was Jack's child. She, like most mothers, spend more time and energy on their children than on their husbands. Had Audrey and Mark had their own children, she would have loved them as much as she loved Jack's child. But Mark never got to realize that since he had opposed their having children from the start. The one thing he did understand was the more children Audrey had to take care of, the less time she had to devote to him. His ego simply wouldn't allow that.

"Mr. President," the senior Secret Service agent addressed his boss. "Agent Ritter has a holding cell ready for Mr. Boudreau. We'll take him there to be debriefed and charged."

"Thank you, but for now I think it's reasonable for Mr. Boudreau to accompany me to the medical unit. His wife is in surgery and he looks like he could stand to have the cuts on his face cleaned up."

"Audrey's in surgery? My God! No! Cheng shot her?" Mark gasped. He was sincerely distressed. "Is she going to be okay?"

"Gentlemen, uncuff him and bring him to medical with me," Heller instructed the agents who seemed to hesitate. "He's not violent and he's hardly going to escape from a CIA station. You can ask Agent Ritter to lock the station down if you like, but I'm willing to take full responsibility for Mr. Boudreau."

The Secret Service agents silently did as they were told. There was little point in arguing with the President of the United States. After all, he was in charge. Once in the medical unit, the President and his son-in-law were escorted to the waiting room where Kate Morgan sat with her head in her hands.

"Agent Morgan, what are you doing here?" Mark asked with more than a hint of irritation in his voice. "I thought you were with Jack Bauer securing the override device from Cheng. Obviously that was more important than rescuing my wife since your inattention to her ending up getting her shot!"

Kate stood quickly. She felt her anger rise. She wanted to remind Mark Boudreau that his wife would be safe inside the presidential quarters if he hadn't tried to hand Jack over to the Russians. "Mr. President," she nodded in his direction. "Mr. Boudreau, I'm so sorry that this happened. Jack sent me with an extraction team to try and rescue Mrs. Boudreau. We were able to take out the sniper but Cheng had a contingency plan. He had a second shooter that ambushed us before we could get Mrs. Boudreau to safety. Two agents are also down. We rendered first aid at the scene and medics were there as soon as possible. Mrs. Boudreau was transported by helicopter. She was stable and talking through most of the transport. The medics felt that she has a good chance of surviving. I take full responsibility for not anticipating the possibility of a backup shooter. "

President Heller spoke to her in a gracious tone, "Agent Morgan, I'm sure you did everything possible. Thank you. You said that Audrey was talking. Was she lucid? Was she in pain?"

"She never complained of pain, Sir. She was very concerned about her son," Kate said.

"Oh, no! I've been so busy worrying about my own feelings I completely forgot about Jeff," Heller chastised himself. "I need to talk to Jeff. I don't want him to hear this on the news." Heller walked to the door to speak to one of his Secret Service detail posted outside. "Call the Prime Minister's country estate," he said. "Tell the security team there not to let my grandson near the television, radio or internet until I've spoken to him." Jeff had become friends with the Prime Minister's grandchildren and had been invited to Davies' country estate while Heller was in London.

The Secret Service agent stepped into the room when he finished his call. "Mr. President, according to the security detail at the Prime Minister's residence, all of the children went to bed a little while ago. They'll make sure that no one tells your grandson about his mother and that he has no access to media until you can talk to him in the morning. They said that the boys have been getting up early, so you probably need to be there before 7 o'clocl."

Heller thanked him and sighed quietly. "If anything happens to Audrey I'm not sure how I'm going to tell Jeff. He'll be devastated."

Kate noticed that Mark never met the President's eyes while the older man talked about his grandson. She decided then that she needed to share Audrey's conversation with Jack. Mark Boudreau cared little for his stepson and Kate wanted to make sure the child was taken care of by someone who loved him. She cleared her throat softly and then spoke, "There's something that both of you need to know. While we were on the helicopter coming back here, Audrey asked me to call Jack for her. She spoke to him at length and she told him that Jeff was his son. She also told him that she wanted him to have custody of Jeff should anything happen to her. The medics and I can all testify to that. We all witnessed the conversation."

Boudreau spoke first, "What she said on that helicopter won't stand up in court. She can't be held accountable for anything she said after she was shot. No judge would ever consider her mentally capable of making that decision at that moment."

"With all due respect, Mr. Boudreau, if it comes down to it, I'll testify that Audrey had all of her faculties when spoke to Jack. Statements from dying people are accepted all of the time in court. As a law enforcement officer all you have to do is make sure they understand that they are dying and anything they say is admissible. Audrey clearly told Jack that if she died, he was to take custody of his son and she acknowledged that I was her witness."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves here," Heller said reasonably. "Right now Audrey is alive. Until I'm told otherwise, I'm going to assume that she will live to raise her child, but I have to tell you Mark, if Audrey dies, I'm going to be on Jack's side. Frankly, I'm not sure why you would even argue the point. You've never had any relationship with Jeff to speak of. I've always thought you considered him an obligation since you married his mother. I think you better consider your own legal problems right now. I haven't forgotten that you forged my signature on a rendition order. That's still treason."

If Mark intended to counter Jim Heller, he didn't get the chance. Heller's private phone rang just as he finished his sentence. "Hello," he said.

"Mr. President, don't say my name," Jack said quietly. "I need to talk to you privately."

"Just a minute," Heller said. "If you'll excuse me, this is a personal conversation," he said as he glanced first at Mark and then at Kate. "Agent, Morgan, is there audio or video equipment in this room?"

"No, Sir, neither one in the waiting room."

"Thank you. I'll just be a few minutes." He waited while they left the room and closed the door behind him. "Jack, I'm sorry but I don't have an update on Audrey."

"That's not why I called, Sir. Mr. President, a few minutes ago I got a call telling me that Chloe O'Brian was kidnapped."

"Who did this? Is anyone claiming responsibility?"

"The Russians," Jack said tersely. "They've offered a deal to get her back."

"We don't negotiate with terrorists, Jack," Heller reminded him.

"This from the man who offered his own life to Margot Al-Harazi?" Jack queried in reply.

"That's different. That was my choice. I was willing to give up my life to stop the attacks, but as President I cannot allow you to negotiate with terrorists."

"Forgive me for saying this, Sir, but you're not really in any position to stop me," Jack told him. "The Russians are offering to return Chloe unharmed if I turn myself over to them."

"You aren't serious are you?" Heller said incredulously.

"As serious as you were when you went to Wembley Stadium, Sir," Jack retorted. "We couldn't have stopped Cheng without Chloe. She's been an asset to the United States and a good friend to me. I can't walk away from her now."

"Jack, you wouldn't be walking away from her. We can negotiate her release through diplomatic channels. It'll take some time, but we'll get her back."

"With all due respect, Sir, if I don't show up at the meeting place at the designated time, they will kill her slowly and painfully. I can't let that happen. I'm not asking for your help or your permission, Sir. What I'm asking for right now is the chance to see Audrey when she wakes up. I need you to get me into the CIA station covertly. If the Russians think I've come to the CIA for help, they'll kill Chloe. No one can know that I'm there."

"You don't know what you're asking. Between the CIA and the Secret Service presence here, this place is locked up tighter than a drum. I have no idea how to get you in without involving one of those agencies."

"Get Kate Morgan to help you. You can trust her. I'll text you a phone number. Get in touch with me when you have a plan."

"Jack, I'm going to say it again. You don't have to do this. There are other ways to handle it," Heller paused for a moment. "I know Audrey told you about your son. I made a big mistake years ago when I told you to stay away from Audrey. She never stopped loving you, Jack, and the fact that you want to see her before you go off on this suicide mission tells me that you still lover her, too. She and Jeff are going to need you. They're going to have to face Mark being charged with treason and my illness. I don't want them to do that alone. I want them to have your support. Come on, Jack. Stop playing spy games. Come back in from the cold. Resume your life. Be part of your daughter's life and your grandchildren's lives. Find out what a really wonderful son you have. We'll rescue Chloe somehow. I promise you."

"I appreciate the offer, Mr. President, but I'm the only one who can ensure Chloe's safety right now and I owe her that. Get back to me when you and Agent Morgan have a plan."