A/N – Thank you for all your reviews! Sorry if this one took so long. I was a little distracted after I published Chapter 3. I felt I made Doyle take all the blame for the break up, so I had to fish him out of that hole by writing a one shot companion fic called Why Conversations are Overrated. If you haven't yet, please check it out and let me know if you like it.

I realize the last chapter left readers wondering, so…

Disclaimer: Characters are owned by 24

Mistaken Identity

Agent Baker's demeanor changed instantly as he quietly closed the door of the apartment. Gone was the feigned sleepiness; in its place, genuine apprehension. He put his headset on and adjusted the mouthpiece as he spoke to a colleague standing by on the street below.

"Suspect's on his way down now. Keep an eye on him. I got a visual when I opened the door. Just need to run it through to CTU to get an id."

Hunching over his laptop, Baker placed his thumb on the fingerprint reader and typed in his pass code to log in. The camera was already hooked up so all he had to do was upload the images. A few more keystrokes and he would be done.

"Damn." He swore softly as blinking red messages flashed on the screen. "The system's down for maintenance. It won't be up for another twenty minutes." He forgot about that. CTU was minimally staffed on weekends and usually rebooted their servers early Saturday morning.

"We're gonna lose him." The man on the other end replied.

"We can't lose him. Just bring him up for questioning then. I'm calling Nadia."

Mike made his way down four flights of stairs in record time. He couldn't get away from her apartment fast enough. When he reached the foyer, he yanked the main door open and almost pulled it out of its hinges. He hurried down the steps leading to the street and continued walking briskly even though he had no idea where he was going.

There was a dull throbbing around his temples and his heart was palpitating wildly. If he weren't such a hard-bitten skeptic, he would have sworn that was the sound of his heart about to break.

What a chump.
You should have just taken the hint when she broke up with you and stayed in LA.
It was dumb to think this long distance thing would work, especially when you've been together, what, all of two months?
What the hell were you thinking getting involved with her in the first place.

Whether it was due to lack of sleep or his emotional state, Mike failed to notice that a man had been following him all this time. As he paused to dump the flowers in a nearby trash can, he felt a piece of cold metal pressed to his side. From the diameter of the barrel, he could tell it was a Glock 36, a weapon he was most familiar with.

"Sir, I need you to come with me."

If the man had known whom he was dealing with, he would agree that this was probably not a smart move. Mike Doyle, in a foul mood, could easily take him out, gun or no gun. Mike played along and did as he was told. In the meantime, his eyes surveyed the area for other possible hostiles while his brain calculated the odds of taking them on with a borrowed weapon.

Dark brown lashes slowly fluttered open as a loud and persistent ring seeped through the sleepy fog of her subconscious mind. For a moment, she was a little disoriented and couldn't quite remember where she was. The drawn aluminum blinds, the bare grey walls and taupe carpeting were a far cry from the warm and sunny room that she usually woke up to. Her right arm reached forward to the side table in an effort to find the offending source of the noise.

"This is Nadia." Her voice was still husky from sleep. This was much earlier than the time she normally got up on weekends. Then again, it's not like she got much sleep last night. Tossing and turning in the unfamiliar bed and thinking about Mike Doyle kept her awake half the night.

"Nadia, this is Baker." He said urgently. "Someone came here looking for you this morning. Possibly a hostile, but he didn't fit the description of the men you told us to watch out for."

"What did he look like?" The reason why she was here was slowly coming back to her.

"Blond. Caucasian. Some light scarring around the eyes. It's possible that he could be working for them. CTU systems are still down so I can't get an id. I've just sent his picture to your pda."

Nadia sat up instantly, all grogginess gone. She didn't even have to look at the image to know who it was.

Oh God. Mike Doyle was here in New York City.

"No, Tom. That's Mike Doyle, Director of Field Ops in CTU LA. He's one of our own. Where is he now?"

"Peters is bringing him back up here for questioning. Do you have any idea why he's looking for you?"

"He's a friend." She said simply, not wishing to elaborate any further. "Please ask Agent Peters to bring him here."

"Are you sure?" Baker asked with some misgiving. "He didn't look too happy when he left here." He omitted telling her the part about Mike Doyle holding a bouquet of flowers in some sort of death grip as he disappeared down the stairs.

I'll bet he didn't. He must have taken one look at you and jumped to the wrong conclusion. Like he always does about me.

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Can you tell me what's going on?" Mike snarled softly as he heard the man receive further instructions through his earpiece.

"I'm Agent Peters, CTU New York Field Ops. I'm putting the gun down now, but I have orders to bring you to the safe house where Nadia Yassir is staying." He said under his breath.

"A safe house! WHY?" This was the last thing he expected. "Is she all right?"

His voice cracked a little with the question. Any jealous thoughts still lingering in his head were firmly pushed out by worried ones now.

Oh God. Nadia. You'd better be all right.

"Shh, keep your voice down." He looked around to make sure no one had heard them. "She's fine for now, but we believe there are people out to get her. It was best that she stayed somewhere other than her apartment over the weekend."

"The guy upstairs…"

"Agent Baker. He was staking out her apartment last night in case they came for her there."

"Who's they?" Mike was liking this situation less and less.

"I'm not at liberty to say. Nadia can give you more details later when you see her."

Mike's eyes narrowed in annoyance, but he decided against coercing more information from the man out of professional courtesy. After all, Peters was Field Ops too.

"What's the fastest way to get to her?"

"By subway."

"Let's go." Mike hardly noticed that he was practically dragging Agent Peters even though he didn't have a clue where they were heading.

Binney Park was going to be a hub of activity this Saturday. Even though it was still quite early, young families had already started trickling in, eager to secure the perfect spot to lay out their picnic blankets for today's event.

Kate picked a shady spot under a massive oak tree. It had a lovely view of the lake but was far enough that she didn't have to worry about her children falling into it. Thankfully, she had the foresight to come early. Greenwich, Connecticut was hedge-fund-trader country, and the high concentration of type A personalities in the area meant that there was bound to be some jostling over prime picnic real estate later on.

Her husband, Todd, immediately plopped himself down on the red and white striped blanket as soon as Kate laid it on the ground. Even he seemed to have checked his brain out and lay there basking in the morning sun.

"Nice work, sweetheart. Now, I'm going back to sleep." He tugged at Kate's right hand and pulled her down to join him. Kate's other hand was straining to hold on to her son who was now pulling her in the other direction.

"No, Robbie, stay with Mommy." She said sternly as she struggled to keep the little squirming ball at her side.

"But I want to go with Libbie…" The little boy pouted his lips in disappointment as he saw his sister scamper away to join her friends.

"Olivia! Be careful." she called out to her daughter. Kate knew it was futile to tell her to come back at this point.

Dark-haired Olivia, four, was fearless and headstrong, undoubtedly traits she got from her father. Armed with a sharp, curious mind as well as gangly arms and legs that wouldn't keep still, she had already surveyed the lay of the land and made up her mind to explore the small gazebo.

Tow-headed Robert, three was gentle and affectionate, taking after his mother in appearance and temperament. He idolized his older sister and often ran after her with his stubby little legs. Unfortunately, he was never quite fast enough to keep up with her escapades; oftentimes, he would be left watching her wistfully as she sped away.

Realizing it was pointless to run after his sister, Robbie turned his attention to the picnic basket beside his mother.

Thank goodness he's easily distracted.

Kate was about to reach inside for a banana when a faint rustle in the bushes caught her attention. The day was unseasonably warm, and there was a noticeable absence of a breeze. It couldn't be the wind.

"Todd, did you hear that?" She tugged at her husband's arm.

"Hmm?" he rubbed his eyes and yawned, barely registering that he heard her. Kate realized that he was useless when he was in this state.

"Something in the bushes." Instinctively, she craned her neck and looked around for her daughter. Olivia was still in the gazebo with her friends chatting animatedly.

"Could be just a deer. Don't be so paranoid." He said as he turned on his side away from her and went back to sleep.

Satisfied that it was probably nothing, Kate cut a piece of banana and placed it in Robbie's mouth. She was blissfully unaware that she was being watched by a pair of bright blue eyes.

The person observing Kate was speaking with someone else on the cell phone.

"Yes. I see her. She's with her family."

"Quite a charming scene, actually."

"Tuesday will be fine. Make it look like an accident."

Next Chapter: Who's after Nadia?

I know, I know I'm prolonging the inevitable, but please don't throw rotten tomatoes at me for keeping Doyle and Nadia apart one more chapter. I promise that they see each other in the next one. Kate's story is picked up a few chapters later...

As usual, please leave a review. All suggestions and comments are welcome.