"Tony, I need a pick up at…" Jack paused and looked over at Catherine, biting her nails on the couch distractedly and asked, "Where is a safe pick up point in the area?"
Catherine looked up with a worried expression; she really didn't want him to leave and she didn't relish the opportunity of deciding his fate by choosing a pick up point for his employers either. She tried quickly to think of a safe place, somewhere Sean wouldn't go. Somewhere that wouldn't put him in any further danger.
"There is a mall about twenty minutes drive from here, they could pick you up out the back there, and it's too nice for the likes of Sean. I doubt he's ever been near any place other than the minute mart!"
Jack smiled and winced a little as a gash in his face split open again. He related these details to Tony and briefly explained what Sean O'Malley had planned to do. Then there came the words that Catherine had longed to hear.
"I'm not going to be working the case, Tony. I've been through a lot this morning and I'm grateful to be alive at all. I'll de-brief and fill you in on the background and stuff, but I have to take care of Kim and her needs this time. I can't put those I love second to my work any longer. It just isn't fair. If Ryan wants me out, then so be it. There's more to life Tony, surely you understand that?"
Tony Almeida remained silent a moment; quite honestly he was having a little trouble taking in what his superior had to say. Jack wasn't the guy who sat on the sidelines. He wasn't someone who took the comfort of civilian life over the excitement and energy of making a better world for those he loved. Though perhaps the time had come to stop trying to make things better and be happy with what he had. What he had waiting for him when all the world was fixed for a while, seemed so much more important now that he had almost had it snatched away without warning.
"I'm sure Kim has learnt to handle your job by now, Jack." Tony said with an ambiguous tone. He too was beginning to see that CTU wasn't a job for life; or if it was, it was a relatively short life.
"Kim isn't the issue here, Tony. There is someone I care a great deal about, who showed me the value of stability today. I need to have more to my life than a successful career; what comfort will it be to me when I come to die, if I gave up on all those that I loved for a job."
"This is more than a job, Jack. You know that… after what happened to Teri, how can you rationalise this as just quitting a job. Don't you want to go after Nina for what she did anymore? Don't you want to right wrongs and ensure the safety and freedom of those you care about?"
Tony knew he was playing devil's advocate here. He knew that he was trying to convince himself as much as he was Jack. He wanted to drop back to a nice safe office job and marry Michelle, maybe raise a few kids, get a dog and a picket fence. Jack wasn't the only one with another life in the wings, permanently laying in wait for something to make the protagonist catch its eye. Only Jack had seen it for what it was that morning and he no longer wanted centre stage.
"I just want to feel loved, Tony. Losing Teri, knowing it was my fault…" He paused knowing that his friend and colleague would try to dispute his assertion. "It was my fault, Tony, whatever anyone tells me. I had the choice to walk away then and leave it to someone else. I could have got the hell away from Nina and…" But he'd lost the flow.
Somehow it didn't feel so true anymore. He'd never lose the love he'd felt for his wife and he'd never take for granted the similarities their daughter showed as she grew into a responsible young woman, but there was something he needed too now. That something was worrying herself sick on the couch behind him and he wasn't going to let her suffer a moment longer.
"I have a similar choice now, Tony. I can keep them all safe this time. I lost a wife and unborn child because I wasn't watching over them properly. My duty is to my family from now on; my country has had my attention for far too long already. I'm sorry Tony; this will be my last day as Director of CTU."
A/N: This wasn't quite the ending I had in mind and is really just to bring things to some sort of conclusion. I am very busy with other projects and may return to this for an alternate longer ending at some point, but right now I'm afraid it must be abandoned. Thanks for all your support and encouragement over the last year or so, it has been of immeasurable benefit to me and I hope you found as much enjoyment in these stories as I did. Until the next time… thanks and all the best.
Catherine looked up with a worried expression; she really didn't want him to leave and she didn't relish the opportunity of deciding his fate by choosing a pick up point for his employers either. She tried quickly to think of a safe place, somewhere Sean wouldn't go. Somewhere that wouldn't put him in any further danger.
"There is a mall about twenty minutes drive from here, they could pick you up out the back there, and it's too nice for the likes of Sean. I doubt he's ever been near any place other than the minute mart!"
Jack smiled and winced a little as a gash in his face split open again. He related these details to Tony and briefly explained what Sean O'Malley had planned to do. Then there came the words that Catherine had longed to hear.
"I'm not going to be working the case, Tony. I've been through a lot this morning and I'm grateful to be alive at all. I'll de-brief and fill you in on the background and stuff, but I have to take care of Kim and her needs this time. I can't put those I love second to my work any longer. It just isn't fair. If Ryan wants me out, then so be it. There's more to life Tony, surely you understand that?"
Tony Almeida remained silent a moment; quite honestly he was having a little trouble taking in what his superior had to say. Jack wasn't the guy who sat on the sidelines. He wasn't someone who took the comfort of civilian life over the excitement and energy of making a better world for those he loved. Though perhaps the time had come to stop trying to make things better and be happy with what he had. What he had waiting for him when all the world was fixed for a while, seemed so much more important now that he had almost had it snatched away without warning.
"I'm sure Kim has learnt to handle your job by now, Jack." Tony said with an ambiguous tone. He too was beginning to see that CTU wasn't a job for life; or if it was, it was a relatively short life.
"Kim isn't the issue here, Tony. There is someone I care a great deal about, who showed me the value of stability today. I need to have more to my life than a successful career; what comfort will it be to me when I come to die, if I gave up on all those that I loved for a job."
"This is more than a job, Jack. You know that… after what happened to Teri, how can you rationalise this as just quitting a job. Don't you want to go after Nina for what she did anymore? Don't you want to right wrongs and ensure the safety and freedom of those you care about?"
Tony knew he was playing devil's advocate here. He knew that he was trying to convince himself as much as he was Jack. He wanted to drop back to a nice safe office job and marry Michelle, maybe raise a few kids, get a dog and a picket fence. Jack wasn't the only one with another life in the wings, permanently laying in wait for something to make the protagonist catch its eye. Only Jack had seen it for what it was that morning and he no longer wanted centre stage.
"I just want to feel loved, Tony. Losing Teri, knowing it was my fault…" He paused knowing that his friend and colleague would try to dispute his assertion. "It was my fault, Tony, whatever anyone tells me. I had the choice to walk away then and leave it to someone else. I could have got the hell away from Nina and…" But he'd lost the flow.
Somehow it didn't feel so true anymore. He'd never lose the love he'd felt for his wife and he'd never take for granted the similarities their daughter showed as she grew into a responsible young woman, but there was something he needed too now. That something was worrying herself sick on the couch behind him and he wasn't going to let her suffer a moment longer.
"I have a similar choice now, Tony. I can keep them all safe this time. I lost a wife and unborn child because I wasn't watching over them properly. My duty is to my family from now on; my country has had my attention for far too long already. I'm sorry Tony; this will be my last day as Director of CTU."
A/N: This wasn't quite the ending I had in mind and is really just to bring things to some sort of conclusion. I am very busy with other projects and may return to this for an alternate longer ending at some point, but right now I'm afraid it must be abandoned. Thanks for all your support and encouragement over the last year or so, it has been of immeasurable benefit to me and I hope you found as much enjoyment in these stories as I did. Until the next time… thanks and all the best.