A/N. Hey! Do you really believe that I was going to leave this story? Of course not! This is my first fic and I'm going to continue with it, no matter if I now have another one in my account… I will share something with you: I'm this kind of obsessive person who likes to have everything planned, so I know that this story will have between 11 and 12 chapters… And we are now at chapter 7!
By the way, I have some help with my grammar now: the amazing Maxxaran is checking both of my stories, so I hope this will help you to read them more easily, without those annoying mistakes of mine…
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Chapter 7. Hangover
"He will wake up in a couple of hours. Don't worry, he will be fine."
"Thank you, Doctor" smiled the blonde. The man that Dr. Pacheco assumed to be her husband was as pale a sheet of paper…
Dr. Nigel Pacheco was curious by nature, so he couldn't stop himself from asking a question of the husband.
"I'm sorry, Mr… "
"Grimes" the woman said quickly. The shadow of a smile reached her husband's lips.
"Right. As I said, Mr. Grimes, it seems like a beast mauled your father… Can you explain to me how it happened?"
"I… don't know, I arrived late at the scene…" mumbled Mr. Grimes weakly, getting whiter. He looked to be on the verge of tears.
"I bet you do… have you had anyone check your nose yet?"
The man nodded, silently.
"And what about the scar on your arm… You know, we have a good plastic surgeon here…" continued Dr. Pacheco.
"OK, that's it!", grunted the big man at his left, "We don't like to be questioned about what happened with my… older brother and his son, OK? You seems like an intelligent person, so if you want to be able to continue with this farce of hospital you have, then you can stop this right now and you will never breath a word about us again, do I made myself clear, "Doctor"?"
"Crystal!" squealed Dr. Pacheco. Hell, I need to stop to working with scum like this. I wish I had that stupid degree…
And he exited the room of his clandestine clinic.
"Thank you, Casey" whispered Jack and Casey grunted, as usual.
"Everything is going to be OK, Jack, you heard the doctor…" Sarah said, trying to comfort him.
"It's not his body what worries me, Sarah. I know better than anyone that he's able to handle this… What is making me crazy is that… I… I almost killed him! My own father!" cried Jack desperately.
"But you didn't", Sarah said wisely. "In the end, you made the right decision…"
"And about what happened before?... I can't look him at the eyes anymore, Sarah! I do not deserve forgiveness!"
"I'm sorry, but I do believe he owes us an apology first. If you don't remember, he did send Walker and I into a hospital for six months!" Casey snarled.
"Casey!"
"What? It is the truth!"
"When I accused him of it, he acted like he didn't know what I was talking about… I didn't believe it, of course, but… what if he was being truthful?"
Everybody in the room kept quiet.
"So what happens next?" the Colonel asked. Everything about this mess was staring to look real fishy...
"He was furious too… He was accusing me of using his little girl to get to him, but I didn't do that! I mean, I don't even know…" Realization hit him. He had thought he could not feel any worse than he already was, but he was wrong. "He was talking of Clara! I'm such a bastard!"
"Easy there… you couldn't have known he was talking about her…" rationalized Sarah.
"Sarah, I used it to tease him! I insinuated to him that I… raped… Oh, Lord!" A new wave of tears came to his eyes. "He's right! I'm a monster!"
"No you aren't", said Sarah, firmly. Jack and Casey turned to look at her. "Ok, maybe a little… But there is no way you would do that to Clara, Jack. You love her. And all this stuff… well, in the end it helped to open your eyes… and you have your Dad back!"
Jack gave her a bitter laugh "You always look for the glass half-full, don't you?"
"Well, I learned it from a certain nerd…"
"Stop right know! I have had enough with your trips to the closet and…" Casey interrupted his indignant monologue when they heard noises coming from the bed. Sarah approached Orion, knowing that Jack wouldn't be able to do it for the moment.
"Mr. Bartowski?" Sarah asked softly.
"Hey! Hey you…" Stephen raised his hand to Sarah's hair, still groggy from the sedatives. Casey approached the bed, to take a look at the man.
"AHHH! Not pretty!... Ugly!", screamed Stephen, while he tried to avoid Casey's face. The Colonel just rolled his eyes.
"Great! Another one…"
Sarah glared him. "Mr. Bartowski, how do you feel?"
"I… words taste like peaches…" he said, taking his head between his hands, in an attempt to stop the dizziness. He stared at the blonde in front of him. "Wait a moment! Who are you? Were I am?" Stephen started to rise from his bed.
"It's OK, Mr. Bartowski. You're in the hospital…" said Casey, getting ready to stop him if he tried to escape.
"I know you! You're Colonel Casey, partner of The Rea… Oh, no!" He closed his eyes. "No, no, no… The Reaper! I was fighting with him but then… his eyes… he's my son!" screamed Stephen, with strangled voice, opening his eyes. "What do you did to him?" yelled.
"I'm… I'm right here, Dad" Jack said while approaching the bed. Stephen looked at him. There was the man who had haunted him for so many years, his hunter… but he looked defeated now. His eyes, once full of wrath and death were now full of shame, unable to hold his gaze… And then he saw his nose, slightly, broken… and the big scar on his forearm…
"Charles... I"
"Dad, I…"
And then, Stephen took Jack into a hug, crying.
"You're right! I'm a monster!"
"No, it's all my fault, I created the Intersect…"
Here, two of the most feared, dangerous, and deadly men in the world, are crying like little girls, thought Casey. Still, he couldn't help but feel a lump in his throat.
"I understand if you don't want to see me anymore… if you can't forgive me…"
"Don't say that! You were confused… both of us were…"
"But I did so much damage… I almost kill you!"
"And I tried to do the same to you… Charles… Chuck, look at me, son" Jack raised his eyes. "I forgive you, no matter what has happened, I will always love you and… I hope you can do the same for me one day…"
"There's no need to wait, Dad…"
And they embraced again.
Casey had enough.
"Sorry break up the lovely moment, but we have a lot of things to do right now, like find the ones responsible for this misunderstanding."
"Yes… I think the Colonel is right, son." Jack just nodded, trying to get back his voice.
"So…" Casey said, taking the control of the situation, "Who wants to go first?"
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"You have a beautiful brain, Mrs. Woodcomb"
As If Ellie didn't have enough, with being kidnapped and tied to the most bizarre chair, she woke up hearing the strangest line ever.
"Where is my daughter?" she asked, barely audible due to her weak state. She felt electrodes attached at her head…
"Don't worry. I can assure you she is fine… for now"
Ellie caught the warning. She felt the panic growing inside her.
"Who are you? What do you want from me?"
"My name is of no importance, but if you must know, I'm Tacher… and about what I want… I already told you"
"What do you want?" repeated Ellie.
"As I said, you have a beautiful mind, as does everybody in your family… I just want to take a look at it, Mrs. Woodcomb… or maybe I should say, Bartowski?"
"What?"
"We know your real name, Eleanor, no matter how well you hide it: we know everything about you, about your father… about your brother"
"My brother is dead!" tears of fear started to fall, "He died a long time ago!"
"Maybe… or maybe not"
"Why? Why are you doing this?"
"For the Greater Good", said Tacher, softly.
And Ellie heard him left the room.
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The big, old fashioned house of General Mark Tacher was in a nice, well accommodated neighborhood. Wide, clean streets, wonderful gardens lovingly tended by dedicated housewives, luxury cars parked in every garage… It was the place everybody dreamed to live, the American Dream, the suburbs. The place was the picture of perfection, normality, security and, above all, family. As night had come, the life on the streets died. Everybody was inside their home, trying to get comfortable in front of the TV, reading or just doing the relaxing, simple, little things that kept them happy and warm inside. And when you felt so good, there is no reason to watch outside.
That was the reason why no one noticed the dark Crown Victoria that was driving down the street.
"I still think you shouldn't have come with us", Jack told his father, worried and ashamed at the same time. No matter if Stephen had already forgiven him, he couldn't forgive himself yet, maybe never again… and he knew Stephen felt the same way.
"If you thought I'd let you interrogate Tacher by yourself, then you're worse than I thought. He owes an explanation for everything and I swear that if he doesn't have a good one…" ended darkly Stephen, and Jack gave him a grunt of agreement.
Sarah, who was in the front passenger seat, turned to watch them both.
"What? If he doesn't have a good explanation what will happen? Are you going to kill him?"
Jack stared Sarah.
"He deserves it", said Jack, coldly. Father and son seemed to think the same, because they were emanating the same spine-chilling aura.
"I can't believe you! After all that happened, I really believed you two had learned something!"
The two men said nothing.
"Look at you! Jack, you can't breath very well and Mr. Bartowski, you could barely move by yourself six hours ago, and now you're doing the same again!"
"That's not true!" said Jack, indignant.
"Of course it's true! You're a mess because of your search for revenge!"
"We were confused, Agent Walker, we had the wrong person! Now, we are pretty sure…" started Stephen, but Sarah cut him off.
"So what? Revenge isn't good! Revenge almost destroyed you both!" she yelled. She wasn't going to budge. "I don't know if you understand that, Mr. Bartowski, but Chuck used to know that, better than anyone…" Sarah ended, whispering.
Silence.
Jack closed his eyes. Impulses and feelings were so mixed up in his head that he was getting a big headache. Part of him –The Reaper part- was roaring to take the son of a bitches life that caused his father and him so much suffering. And he wanted to kill him in the most painful, slowly way possible… However deep inside, the other part of him, the one he thought was dead until Clara appeared, knew that Sarah was right…
"We're here. That is Tacher house" Casey pointed out with his finger. They had done a little research and, with the help of the Intersect, locating the General's secret address was a piece of cake. The four of them got out of the car, Jack still pondering the situation. A ray of light illuminated his dad face, letting him see a big bruise on his cheek…
"Sarah..." whispered Jack, stopping.
"What?" she answered, angrily.
"I… you…" Sarah turned and she could see he was trying to say something important, so she let him go. Jack breathed deeply. "You're right. I used to know … it's just… Sarah, everything is so confusing… I was losing myself, and then Clara… She brought something again, but then I screwed all up… Tacher screwed all… I don't know how to react, I don't know who I am anymore…" Sarah understood him. It was the same suffocating sensation that she had felt for so many years, until Chuck appeared. She give him an encouraging smile, so Jack kept going. "I'm not even sure what I am… sometimes I'm a man, a human being… sometimes I feel like a computer, processing data… and sometimes I feel like a creature, thirsty for death and blood… but I'm sure of something" he stared at her, firmly "I want to be the man you once loved, your Chuck, Clara's Jack… and… and I hoped you could help me to remember him…" he ended, helplessly. That was it: Sarah kissed him deeply; trying to show him all the love and devotion she had felt all those years. She wanted to make him feel her unconditional support, as he once did for her…
"Oh, for the love of Regan! You two are disgusting! His father is here, for God's sake! Can't wait till we end this?"
When they part from each other, both of them had wide, happy smiles, and Jack could see that his father was smiling too, proudly.
That lit his soul as if he had a little sun inside.
"C'mon Colonel, let the kids have a little fun. Do it for your older brother…" said Stephen with a smirk.
"All the Bartowskis are the same…" grunted Casey.
They entered into the house without incidents, which only made them suspicious. Jack looked at the environment and discovered a exquisite ornamented living room, with a wide fireplace in the middle, Frames with pictures of family memories: the wedding day, the prom filled its mantle… all the moments that Tacher had taken from the Bartowski family. The rancor and anger spread through Jack's body, making him forget any intention of forgiveness…
Sarah felt that and squeezed his hand, reminding him of his promise. Jack took a deep breath and smiled at Sarah.
"I don't understand", said Stephen. "I thought this would be more difficult… I mean, a decorated general of the NSA must have a lot of security measures…"
"I know… this feels wrong…" said the Colonel, the only one with a gun in his hand, "His cars are in the garage, so where are the hell is Tacher?"
"Guys, I think I found him". Sarah's voice came from a door ahead.
The other three stepped in the office. The room was trashed.
"It seem we are late", said Sarah.
In front of them was the body of one General Mark Tacher.
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A/N. If you leave a review, perhaps I will give you a clue…