Chloe walked through the door of her apartment, closing it behind her then leaning against it. Today had been a bad day; and now to top everything she'd had to tell Bill. She trusted him not to share it with anyone other than maybe Karen, and that was ok because she knew Karen would be discreet.

Just as Chloe sat down on the couch and slipped off her shoes for a brief nap there was a knock at the door. She groaned inwardly at the prospect of no rest and walked over to the door. She was surprised to find Spencer standing the other side of it.

"Chloe, I need to talk to you. Can I come in?"

"Spencer, how many times do I have to tell you there's nothing to talk about? It's over."

"I heard something at work today Chloe and I want to know if it's true".

"Wh…what did you hear?" she asked moving aside to let him in, at the same time she felt panic rising at the prospect of what he was about to say.

"I heard that you're pregnant Chloe, is it true?"

"Where the hell did you hear that?"

"From you Chloe, I heard it from you." He said, looking at her intently and awaiting her response.

"But, how? I haven't been talking about it." She frowned, trying to recall any situations he may have overheard. Just then, she remembered the conversation with Bill and Jack, trying to recall what Spencer had been doing just before she went up there. He'd been watching her, like he'd always been watching her. And then the realisation of what had happened hit her.

"You bastard, you were spying on me, listening in on my conversation with Bill. I don't know why I'm surprised, it's what you're good at after all." Chloe turned to walk away from him, shouting at him to get out and stay away from her. She didn't get far because he grabbed her arm harshly and turned her back to face him so she was now standing only inches from him. She struggled to get out of his grasp but he held on fast.

"You're not going anywhere Chloe, not until you tell me the truth. You said you were only a few weeks pregnant so I'm assuming it's mine. I have rights in this situation you know" he said angrily.

"You have no rights, to me or this baby Spencer, now I want you to get out" she shouted.

His grip tightened on her arms and he shook her slightly. "Chloe I am not leaving here until you discuss this with me. I am this baby's father and I want to know what you intend doing about it."

Chloe realised she was backed into a corner with only one escape route – the truth. "You are not the father Spencer."

His grip loosened a little as he stared at her in shock. "How can you know that Chloe? Even if you were sleeping with someone else at the time, how can you be sure?"

"I wasn't sleeping with someone else at the time and I'm a lot more than a few weeks pregnant, more like a few months. I'll happily share my medical records with you if you want proof but I was pregnant before I even slept with you; I just didn't know it at the time."

She eased herself out of his grasp, taking advantage of the shock that had caused him to all but let go of her. She walked towards her bag and pulled out a piece of paper; the summary of her recent medical examination and handed it to him. The shock left him and was replaced by something more like anger. He threw the paper on the ground and walked towards her again, taking hold of her roughly.

"You know something Chloe, that morning when I was here you told me you didn't want anyone to know, didn't want them to think you were a slut" he snarled angrily. "Well, let me tell you I was wrong when I said you didn't have to worry about that. You are a slut Chloe, a cheap little slut who deserves everything she gets". He smiled menacingly at her as his hands reached into her hair, holding her fast as his lips crushed down on hers in a bruising attack.

Chloe struggled against him, trying to push him away but he was stronger than her. She attempted to kick him in the shins but he was standing too close so she was unable to get enough leverage. Just then, a voice shouted out from her doorway.

"Get away from her Spencer. NOW!"

Spencer jumped back from her in shock and both he and Chloe stared in surprise at the sight of Karen Hayes in the doorway to Chloe's apartment.

Karen moved towards him, the anger clear on her face and in her voice. "Get out Spencer and don't come near her again or believe me you will have the whole of CTU field ops after your blood."

Spencer smiled briefly, a cold smile. "Don't worry, I'm going. I won't be seeing you again Chloe – have a nice life." On that note he turned and walked out the door.

Chloe stood there trembling slightly; she reached her hand up to her mouth and wiped away the blood that was now trickling slowly down her chin. Karen walked towards her, helping her to sit on the couch while she poured her a glass of water. When she handed Chloe the water she was trembling so much that some of it spilled over the side of the glass. Karen took the glass from her and set it down on the table.

Taking hold of her hands, Karen gently looked into her eyes saying "It's ok Chloe, he's gone and I don't think he'll be coming back."

Chloe took two or three deep breaths in an effort to regain her composure. She looked at Karen again as if seeing her for the first time. "Why are you here? How did you get in?"

"Your door wasn't closed properly so when I heard the commotion I just came in" she said, trying to gauge Chloe's possible response to the reason she was here. "I'm here, well I'm here because Jack and Bill asked me to come. They were worried about you. They thought it might help for you to have a woman to talk to." Karen smiled kindly at her.

That smile was Chloe's undoing. She cried softly, out of shock from what had happened with Spencer, out of fear for what she would do next and, out of gratitude to her friends and the woman sitting opposite her. Karen sat, holding her hands and letting her cry.

When she'd finished Karen placed a cup of tea in front of her, along with a box of tissues. Chloe smiled weakly through her tears and thanked Karen for her kindness. They sat for a few moments in silence, both of them sipping their tea and contemplating how they would break the silence.

Karen spoke first. "So, I gather from that exchange that Spencer isn't the father then."

"No." Chloe said, unsure what else to tell her.

"Chloe, you can talk to me about this or not. The choice is yours, I want to help if I can but I don't want you to feel uncomfortable."

"I don't know what else to say."

"Do you know who the father is Chloe?"

"Of course I do" she said angrily. "Despite what Spencer said I'm not a slut you know".

"I know Chloe, it's just sometimes things happen and …well, sometimes it's difficult to be sure. I have a friend who once found out she was pregnant after she was raped. I guess I was just wondering if anything like that had happened to you."

"No" Chloe said quickly trying to reassure her "no, I wasn't raped. It was a one off though."

"And do you still see this man Chloe. Do you still have contact with him?"

Chloe hesitated; concerned that she didn't want to give anything away. Eventually she answered "yes I still see him, but not in a romantic way. He is with someone else and I can't tell him. If I do he will feel responsible, will feel that he has to support me."

"And would that be so bad?"

"Yes, he's happy. He deserves to be happy. He's been through so much, he…." Chloe stopped the flow of words, realising she was saying too much.

Karen smiled gently at her. "Chloe, if there's one thing I know it's that whatever you think you are doing to protect him will end up hurting you and possibly him. But more importantly there are enough children in this world without a father that I think if this man is a good man then you should consider having him in your baby's life. The rest is up to him to deal with; if his relationship is strong enough it can survive this."

Chloe sighed "you don't know him like I know him. He is a good man, someone who will give up everything for this child and I don't want to feel that he is with me just for that. If he's with me I want it to be for the right reasons."

"Chloe, I may not know him as well as you do but I know that he cares for you, that he is currently tying himself up in knots trying to support you, trying to find a way to look after you. I think he will handle this just fine."

"How can you be sure who it is, that you know who I'm talking about?"

"Jack? Because I've seen the way you look at him and I've seen the way he looks at you. It wasn't too hard to work it out."

Chloe sat staring at the wall then; taking a deep breath she turned to Karen, saying "I don't know how to tell him. I don't want to hurt him."

"Don't you think it will hurt him more to have a child he doesn't know is his? It's up to you Chloe but I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at how this might turn out. I know that Jack wanted to come and talk to you himself tonight but Bill persuaded him to let me come. I suspect that means he's not busy right now, you could call him and ask him to come over, get it over and done with."

Chloe felt butterflies in the pit of her stomach at the thought of telling him the truth but she knew Karen was right; she nodded in agreement at Karen, picked up her phone and dialled his number. Karen was right, he wasn't busy and he told her he'd be over in ten minutes.

Eight minutes later he was in her apartment, having passed Karen on the stairs; Karen had told him to go on up, that the door was open. He walked in, closing the door behind him just as Chloe was coming out of the bathroom. The first thing he noticed was her swollen and bruised bottom lip.

"What happened Chloe?" he asked, concern lacing his words.

"It's nothing Jack, Spencer was here and he was angry. He didn't hurt me though, not really."

"Sonofabitch" he spat out, closing the gap between them and reaching up to examine the bruise. His fingers were gentle and Chloe closed her eyes against his touch, enjoying the warmth of his closeness. Her eyes blinked open when she felt his fingers reaching to stroke her cheek gently.

"Chloe, why did he do that to you? Did you tell him?"

"No, I didn't need to, he already knew. He listened in on the conversation with Bill earlier today."

"Why did he react so badly?"

Chloe didn't answer him but moved away towards the couch, asking him to sit with her. She summoned every ounce of courage to tell him the truth.

"Jack, he reacted badly because I told him that the baby wasn't his, that it couldn't be his. Oh, I don't think he was particularly bothered about the baby, I think it was more that I didn't want him. I think his ego was bruised more than anything."

Jack looked at her in confusion, trying to process what she was telling him. "But, if Spencer is not the father who is? I didn't know there was anyone else in your life Chloe".

"There isn't…I…I", she clammed up, couldn't find the words to tell him. She could see the frown on his face, the confusion then replaced with more concern.

"Chloe? Did someone do this to you? Hurt you?"

"No, no Jack" she laughed nervously then, "why does everyone think that? Karen asked me the same thing. Jack, please I'm trying to tell you in my own way but this is difficult. I'm not sure how you're going to react and that scares me."

"React? Me? What're you talking about Chloe?"

"Ok, here goes" she said taking a deep breath then blurting it out "you're the father Jack. I lied when I said I was only a few weeks pregnant, actually I'm over three months. I don't know how I didn't know before but I guess I was under stress and probably in a bit of denial. But,..never mind, I'm babbling….". She looked at him then, saw the stunned look on his face and started babbling again, unable to stand the silence.

"I know you're probably angry, I know this is the last thing you need. I mean, what with you and Audrey just having found each other again. I don't want this to come between you, I want you to be happy. You don't have to do anything, I'll leave CTU, leave LA. I don't want you to feel obligated to me….I…"

"Shut up Chloe"

"Wh…what did you say?" she looked at him again, realising she hadn't been looking at him the whole time she'd been talking.

"I said, shut up Chloe. Just long enough for me to get a word in edgeways."

Chloe shut up, but she still couldn't look at him, the most she could manage was the odd furtive glance in his direction. He stood up then, started pacing, then stopped and looked back at her. His expression was unreadable, even to her and she was usually the one person who could tell what he was thinking.

She couldn't help it, she just had to start talking again, couldn't bear the silence. "Jack, if you want to get a word in then please do, this is killing me – you know I can't bear uncomfortable silences. I know this is a shock. Shit, I don't even know if you remember that night. If you don't then I can imagine it's an even bigger shock, but….." her words trailed off at the look in his eyes.

He sat dwon next to her again, still not talking but took hold of one of her hands as if trying to reassure her before he was ready to speak. Eventually after a few moments he did speak.

"Chloe, of course I remember, how could I forget what you did for me that night? If it wasn't for you I really don't think I would have come through that. It's just..well, I assumed the baby was Spencer's, it never crossed my mind that it was mine. I don't know why, it just didn't"

"That's ok Jack. I did my best to hide it from you."

"Why? Why did you want to hide it from me?"

"I already told you Jack, weren't you listening? Because of Audrey, I didn't want to be responsible for ruining that for you." She saw something flicker over his face then, she thought it was understanding, that her words were finally filtering through.

"Chloe, there is no me and Audrey. Not anymore, there hasn't been since I got back from China".

It was Chloe's turn to look surprised. "What do you mean, no you and Audrey?"

"I mean, we never got off the ground again. When I got back I told her I was in love with someone else Chloe".

"Someone else? Who?" She looked at him quizzically then realisation hit her "Oh! You mean Diane, of course. Well that must have surprised her."

Jack laughed then, a short laugh that was more of a choking sound. He rolled his eyes in exasperation then, taking hold of both her hands and looking her square in the eyes, he said "No, Chloe. Not Diane. You. I'm in love with you Chloe."

It was Chloe's turn to look stunned.