Mutual Purposes- Chapter Two
"I knew I'd heard that name before," Tony muttered, as he and Jack strode across the upper hallways and into Bill's office.
"I still don't remember." It was bothering Jack that something as important as this had slipped his notice; surely he would have remembered the guy?
"It was a good while back," Tony continued. "Actually, thinking back, it may well have been while you were temporarily based in Chicago." He paused. "Yes, it was. Four years ago."
Jack shook his head as Tony knocked on the door of Bill's office. "No. There's something else."
Bill looked up as the two men entered, gratefully putting down his pen and removing his glasses as he saw the urgency etched into their features.
"Chloe found a name. He's ex-CTU," Jack informed him, pacing the length of the room impatiently. Tony took up defensive stance; arms across his chest he leaned against the door, as though daring Bill to challenge them.
"What's his name?"
"Mark Russell."
Bill paled. "Ah."
"What?" demanded Tony.
"Well, you see-"
All three men looked round as the door creaked open once more. Audrey stepped inside without waiting to be invited. Tony shot a look in Jack's direction, and the warning in his eyes clearly told him that this was not the time or the place to be asking questions.
"Is there something the matter, Audrey?" Bill asked, his voice frosty following her earlier attempts to overrule his authority.
"I've just got off the phone with my contact back in D.C. The guy you're looking for is-"
"We know who he is, Chloe already worked it out," Jack told her.
Audrey faltered. "Oh."
"I would appreciate it in future if you could wait to be invited into my office," Bill informed her coolly.
"I saw you all up here and I thought-"
"Thought what? That you'd try and poke your nose in? I don't appreciate being told how to run this agency, Ms Raines."
She looked helplessly towards Jack. "Jack…"
"We're busy here, Audrey."
Taking a deep breath to regain her composure, Audrey smiled. "Fine. Sorry for interrupting."
As the sound of her heels receded from earshot, Bill sighed. "Jack, I'm sorry, but I don't appreciate how she assumes control. Either you talk to her or I will."
Jack merely nodded. Tony frowned at him, but said nothing.
"Anyway, as I was saying… this Mark Russell. Chloe's right; he did used to work here. He was head of field-ops while you were in Chicago, Jack."
"There's something else," Jack muttered, resuming his pacing. "I know I don't remember him, but there's something… maybe we worked together elsewhere?"
"Have Chloe cross check both your file and his," Bill told him. "If there is something, she'll find it. But… there is a problem. This guy is dead."
…
"I told you not to call me while I'm here," she hissed into the phone, ducking into a vacant holding room and closing the door discretely behind her so as not to attract attention.
"It's taking too long."
"Excuse me? You have to understand that these people aren't stupid."
She heard a laugh reverberate down the line, and she held the phone away from her ear in distaste. "No, Audrey, you have to understand that I'm not a patient man."
"How long are you giving me?"
"I've already given you too long." He sighed. "But, as I am in a generous mood, I will give you a bit longer. Shall we say another day? How close are they to locating me?"
"I'm not sure. I've pissed off Bill Buchanan so he's putting a wall up and blocking me from the investigation. I'm going to have to get Da- I mean, the Secretary of Defence, to go over his head."
Again a laugh. "Good old Daddy. What did you do to annoy Buchanan?"
"You're enjoying this too much."
"Okay. Maybe I am. But I've waited a long time, Audrey. Get me what I want."
Before Audrey could respond, the holding room door clicked open and Michelle stepped inside. Both women stared at each other a good few seconds, before Audrey remembered where she was and put an end to the phone call. "Call me with more news, Martin." She snapped the cell phone shut and smiled brightly at Michelle. "Everything okay, Michelle?"
Michelle frowned. "I saw the light on from under the door and I wanted to see who was in here, that's all. I didn't mean to intrude on a private call."
"Not a lot of places here where you can make a private call," Audrey agreed, placing emphasis on her words for the other woman's benefit.
She followed the dark haired woman back out into the hallway and waited while she switched the light off. "This room should be locked," muttered Michelle.
"It wasn't, otherwise I would never have stepped in there," Audrey told her, not missing a beat.
"I'm going to see who the last person was to have used that room." Michelle spoke aloud, not expecting an answer, so was shocked when Audrey responded.
"I think I saw Chloe in there a couple hours ago."
…
Chloe sat in Jack's office, reluctantly working from his office computer rather than her own station. He had requested that she ran the background check from his office, yet the minute she had entered he had disappeared down onto the main floor.
As she waited for the program to run its search, she cast her eyes around the small room. There were pictures of his daughter over every available surface, alongside a small picture of his wife which took pride of place in the centre of the desk. Chloe frowned. Surely, if he was with Audrey, he wouldn't have Teri's picture in such a prominent position?
She looked up guiltily as footsteps approached the office. With a sinking heart she recognised Michelle's slender frame through the glass panelling.
"Jack knows I'm in here," she offered quickly, watching as the brunette slipped into the room.
Michelle sighed. "I know. That's not why I'm here."
Chloe felt her defences kick in. "Then why?"
Michelle stood before the desk and faced Chloe directly. Chloe could tell that whatever she was about to say was making her feel very uncomfortable.
"Chloe, did you leave holding room 3 unlocked this afternoon?"
"Holding 3? I've not been in holding 3 all day. In fact, I don't think the room has been used at all. Why?"
Michelle trusted Chloe's blunt honesty and knew that she wasn't being lied to. She shook her head tiredly. "Nothing. It's just…" She paused, weighing up in her mind how much she ought to tell the analyst sat before her. "It's just, it was open and no-one seems to know why. I'm just asking everyone," she replied finally, turning to leave.
"Oh. Well, I hope you find out," Chloe offered.
"So do I," sighed Michelle.
…
"We're drawing blanks."
Bill had once again gathered the department heads, and, against his better judgement, Audrey, in his office and was running through the day's events.
"I seem to be hitting a wall with the search," Chloe spoke up. "It's like there's a virus in the system. Something blocking me."
"How could there be a virus? Surely you would be the first one to spot that."
Everyone looked up at the hostility in Audrey's tone.
"Seeing as you're such an expert, you would know that some viruses can go undetected for hours," spat Chloe.
"A virus? Maybe the system's just slow," Bill told Chloe, ignoring the DOD liaison completely.
"It's not slow. I checked it earlier, brought it up to date."
Bill ran a hand through his hair. "Well, we're getting nowhere. It's so frustrating!" he shouted, banging a fist against the wall in an uncharacteristic gesture.
"Every time I try and access Jack's file, it comes up with an authorisation code. I mean, it usually does, but this time the code isn't verified."
"Why don't you try cross checking my file?" Tony asked suddenly.
"It's worth doing," Bill agreed. A look of something like understanding passed between the two men. "And I'll look into this authorisation code. I expect Division have put a block on it for some reason."
The agents took their cue to leave, and filed out of the office, Audrey bringing up the rear. "Jack! Jack, wait." She hurried across the hallway and towards the stairs, where Jack was already approaching the bullpen below.
Both he and Tony looked up at the tone of her voice. Out of the corner of his eye, Jack saw Chloe hurry quickly over to her station and gather a few things. He watched as she then made her way back over to where he and Tony were stood, no doubt heading back up to the office.
"Keep me posted," he told her quietly, a gentle smile on his face.
"I will," she smiled back.
"Uh, excuse me?" Audrey pushed her way past Chloe and planted herself in front of Jack. Both Tony and Chloe took their leave and walked quickly away.
"I don't have time for this, Audrey."
"Make time. Dad's on his way in."
Jack felt his temper rising. "You called your father?"
She nodded smugly. "He wasn't happy to hear what Bill's been up to. DOD supersedes CTU," she added unnecessarily. "Where are you going?" she called as Jack turned away from her and marched back up the stairs.
Throwing open the door to his office, he strode inside and began pacing the already thread-bare carpet.
"Is… is everything okay?" Chloe asked hesitantly.
Jack froze, as though he had forgotten that she was there. "No, Chloe," he replied, pinching the bridge of his nose in a motion that was so familiar to Chloe. "I'm just tired. Tired of her," he added quietly.
Chloe shifted uncomfortably. "Oh."
He laughed bitterly. "Sorry, Chloe, you don't want to know that." Jack moved so that he was stood behind her. "It's just… sometimes… you…"
"I'm sorry, Jack," she interrupted. "That you and Audrey are having problems."
He sighed. "Me, too."
…
It was past nine, and the night shift were settling themselves at their stations, eager to relieve their now weary co-workers. The analyst brought in to cover for Chloe found themselves shunted to a station a little way behind the comm. unit, working on the files Chloe had abandoned earlier.
"Aren't you going home?"
Chloe frowned up at Curtis, as though he had asked her if the sky was green. "In a minute."
"It's almost nine-thirty."
"I know what the time is, Curtis. I learnt how to tell time when I was five."
Curtis rolled his eyes. "Okay, fine. I'll see you tomorrow. Make sure you're not still sitting at this desk, wearing the exact same clothes, when I come in at eight tomorrow morning."
"Yes, Mr Buchanan."
Smiling to himself, Curtis walked away from the decidedly over-worked analyst and towards the main doors out of the building. As he waited for the elevator to take him down to the parking lot, he overheard angry voices. Looking up, he saw Jack and Tony stood only feet away, in the middle of what was turning into a heated argument. Knowing better than to interfere, Curtis positioned himself out of sight, placing himself on standby in case it turned ugly.
"Stay out of it, Tony." Jack's voice was menacing. Curtis had heard the all too familiar tone many times before, and he found himself hoping that Tony would be smart enough to heed his friend's advice.
"Fine, I will. But Jack? Everyone has noticed. Something's wrong between the two of you and as a friend, I'm asking you if you're okay."
"I'm fine," Curtis heard Jack mutter, as Tony's footsteps faded along the tiled floor.
Deciding that his best option was to move before Jack saw him, Curtis caught the now-open elevator door with his foot and, stepping inside, hastily jammed at the buttons until the door slid shut.
…
"You've not come to nag at me too, have you?" Chloe accused Jack as he approached the comm. station. To her horror, he looked utterly exhausted.
"Nag you about what?" he asked absently. "Hey, are you finished up for the night?"
Rolling her eyes, Chloe stood up. The young techie behind her jumped up and within a few seconds had resumed Chloe's position in front of the computer. "Touch anything and I swear…" she muttered, glaring just enough to make the colour drain from the young girl's cheeks.
"Why do you want to know if I'm finished for the night, anyway? I've had Curtis nagging me, Mr Buchanan keeps phoning to see if I've gone yet, and now you. Is there some sort of conspiracy?" Chloe half-joked, as Jack followed her out of the bullpen.
"No. Nothing like that," Jack assured her.
They hesitated outside the women's locker room. "Well, uh, I'm just going in here to get my bag," Chloe told him, nodding.
"I'll wait here."
His reluctance to leave her tore Chloe in two. On the one hand, she wanted to be the one to comfort him, the one he turned to, but at the same time she did not want to hear all about the problems he and Audrey were having in their relationship.
Once inside the changing rooms, Chloe walked slowly over to her locker and tapped in the combination code, unable to get the lost, troubled look on Jack's face out of her mind. She hoped he wasn't going to try and ask her advice about Audrey; she was hardly an expert on relationship matters.
Absentmindedly, she pulled a brush through her dark hair, tugging at a particularly annoying knot. Looking in the mirror for a final check, she froze as she saw Jack stood awkwardly in the doorway.
"Sorry, I'm just coming," Chloe muttered hastily, shoving the brush back into her already over-filled bag. He was still looking at her, his crooked smile in place, his head resting against the door frame.
"You look fine," he told her quietly. Chloe mused that if any other man had said that, it would have sounded as though he was impatient at having to wait. But Jack wasn't any other man, and his tone of voice suggested that he actually meant it.
"Thanks." Chloe nodded again, to reassure herself. It was a habit she had developed over the years, to help build her self-confidence in uncomfortable situations. This, she decided, was definitely one of those times.
They walked together down the hall, and stood waiting for the elevator like Curtis had only minutes before them.
"I don't know why we bother having stairs, no-one uses them," Chloe said, breaking the silence.
Jack laughed. "No, I agree."
While Chloe didn't want to ask him what was wrong, she needed to talk about something. She said the first thing that came into her head.
"Tony's file was blocked, too. I tried running all sorts of codes but the authorisation code has been overridden." She bit her lip. "I don't like this, Jack. We need a lead and I can't get into the damn files!"
"Do you think it's internal?" Jack asked, following her into the elevator and leaning against the opposite wall so that he was facing her.
Chloe shook her head. "No. It's coming from the outside. I'm pretty sure. It looks like a virus but I was wrong; it isn't."
"Bill will call us if anything comes up." Jack didn't know if he was trying to convince Chloe or himself.
The elevator doors slid open and they found themselves in the now darkened parking lot.
"Where are you parked?" Jack asked.
"Next bay along," Chloe replied. "You?"
"Right here."
They stopped just before a dark mass of shadows, carefully disguising a powerful SUV. Jack took his keys from his pocket but made no move to unlock the car.
"Chloe, I didn't mean to shock you earlier, when I burst into my office like that."
"It's fine. It's your office."
"Me and Audrey… we're not doing so well. She's brought in her father to override Bill's authority."
"I'm… I'm sorry, Jack." Chloe shifted uncomfortably. "I don't know-"
"It's okay, I don't expect you to say anything." He took a few short steps towards her. Chloe felt her heart race as he reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "You understand, and that's all I could ask for." Again that crooked smile. "Thank you."
Chloe shrugged. "It's nothing. I'll… see you tomorrow." She started to walk away. Pausing, Chloe turned to see Jack stood exactly as she had left him. "It will be okay, Jack. Tomorrow, I mean. Mr Buchanan will find a way around Secretary Heller. We'll get this guy."
Jack nodded sadly, offering her a final smile before climbing into the vehicle and pulling out of his parking space. As Chloe made her way round to her own car, she couldn't help the stray tear that slid down her cheek.