9 and a half months after Chapter Six

1 year after Day Three

3 years, 10 months before Day Six

After almost a year in Munich, the city was becoming familiar and Alex's German skills were much improved. People were becoming more familiar as well, and their neighbours in the bleak apartment block that they lived in were oblivious as to who the siblings really were. To them, Alex and Nina were Alex and Nina Schwartz, Americans born to German parents who had come to live in Munich for a while. The siblings had decided to lie low for a while before moving on, and so far they had succeeded. After the arrest of Jurgen Faber, they had been anxious, but he had been found dead in his cell one night. The official cause of death was suicide, but Nina knew that her employers had most likely gotten to him.

Chase slammed the front door on his way out, only for it to be almost immediately pulled open by Kim. They had just had a huge argument and both were angry and unable to control their temper. As Chase got into his car, Kim shouted at him from the front door and, as he drove off, the anger in her died down and she began to cry. As hot tears ran down her reddened face, she knelt down at the door and wondered where it had all gone wrong. The argument was not their first, and it certainly wasn't the worst, but there had been no starting point, no trigger. It was if the argument had descended upon them and enveloped them in an atmosphere of tension and violent thoughts.

Another door was slammed shut, this time in Munich. Alex had almost dived back into the apartment after noticing the mysterious American that had been hanging around for days. Alex and Nina assumed that he was CIA and therefore Munich was no longer safe for them. Watching Nina as she paced the apartment, phone almost glued to her ear, he was stood near the door, with a gun at the ready, fully prepared to shoot the CIA agent if he tried to break in. Finally, Nina hung up and approached Alex.

"OK, I've got us some transportation to Chicago", she stated, her voice full of anxiety, which was a rarity when it came to Nina. Alex looked at her, confused.

"Chicago? Are you sure we should be going back to the States?". Alex wondered if returning to the US was a bad idea, but had no choice but to follow Nina. He was a fugitive and Nina gave him some sort of security. Take her away and chances were that he would be quickly captured.

"The authorities won't be looking for us there, will they? Our only problem right now is that agent", looking at the door as she spoke. Nina wasn't afraid of a solitary CIA agent, but she still wanted to be careful. US government agencies such as the CIA were very powerful and had great resources at their disposal.

"All the stuff is in the car", Alex confirmed as Nina cocked her gun. They walked slowly towards the door, and Alex carefully opened it, before examining the corridor. Finding it to be empty, he hid the gun and gestured to Nina to follow him. As they descended down the stairs, something spooked them and Nina twirled around, gun at the ready."It's just a cat!", Alex laughed as Nina slowly lowered her gun, a relieved smile on her face.

CTU Los Angeles had joined much of the populace of the city and indulged in some plastic surgery. The dull, dark CTU had been replaced with plenty of light, posh workstations with deep red tops and a fresh new look. It certainly did not have any resemblance to it's former self, and the renovation was a sad indicator that the terror business had grown. Erin looked around the new bullpen and was satisfied with the makeover. It was like a fresh start for CTU, one without Jack Bauer, one that wasn't a constant reminder of the terrible events that had happened over the last few years.