Disclaimer: I do not own 24 or any characters.

Chapter 7

1:00PM-2:00PM

I was looking into getting the guest list from the dinner when Jack came over to me.

"Jack, did you get the surveillance footage from the Hyatt security?" I asked.

"No, the Heritage dinner you attended was monitored by a private company, Felsted Security," Jack said. "I just got off the phone with them. They've got the videotapes on file but unfortunately they're working off a closed system. I have to go there, pick up the tapes, and bring them back here for you to ID. Where are you on the guest list?"

"I'm having it sent here," I told him.

He looked at his watch. "Yeah but we're running out of time."

Jack walked away and I followed him. "What do you mean? Is it that urgent?"

"Yes," Jack said. "As it turns out, your kidnapping was just a cover for a much larger attack. The terrorists used the broadcast to overload the internet and divert our attention from what they're really trying to do."

I tried to understand but was still confused. A larger attack?

"I need a full tactical for my vehicle," Jack said to a man behind a counter.

"Which is what?" I asked about the terrorists intentions.

"They're in possession of a stolen device called an override. With that they gained control of the 104 nuclear power plants across this country," Jack said. This day really couldn't get worse, could it? "The override device maintains heat levels within the reactors. Effectively they could melt down every one of those plants.

"Oh my god," I said. Jack grabbed a case from the man behind the counter.

"The man you saw when you were being held captive, right now he's our only lead," Jack said.

"Then let me come to Felsted Security with you and make the ID there. It will be quicker," I offered.

"Audrey," Jack started. "I can't. After what you've been through today, I'm not going to put you at risk."

In other words, I could if I wasn't your girlfriend. "You just said our nation's nuclear power plants will melt down if we don't find that override, Jack. We can't afford to waste anymore time."

Jack seemed to consider it for a second. "Come with me."

We started walking down the hall where a meeting was ending. Jack walked over to Driscoll. "Erin, we're leaving now."

"Where are you going, Jack," my father asked.

"Audrey's given us a significant lead. We need to follow it up," Jack explained.

"What kind of lead?" my dad asked.

"When we were being held, I recognized someone. He was an American. I saw him at a function here in L.A. a couple of months ago," I told him.

"We're going to view the surveillance tapes of the function at a private security company not far from here," Jack told him.

"I don't want her going out now," my dad said. Surprise, surprise. "Why can't you access the tapes here?"

"Sir, I wish we could but they're offline. They would have to record over four and half hours of material for us to view. We don't have that time," Jack explained.

"Jack told me that these people are trying to use our nuclear power plants as weapons," I said. "We have to follow this lead and we have to follow it now."

"Sir, Audrey's the only person who can make this ID," Jack said.

"If anything happens, Jack, I will hold you personally responsible," my dad warned.

"I understand," Jack said. We walked away and Jack's hand found it's way to my back to lead the way.

"How far away is this facility?" I asked.

"Not far. Burbank," Jack said.

"Audrey," Paul said, walking towards Jack and me.

"Paul," I said.

"I'll get the team set up," Jack said, leaving us alone.

"We need to talk," Paul said, once Jack left.

"We'll have to do it when I get back," I told him.

"Back? From where?" Paul asked.

"We're following up on something," I said. He was about to protest but I cut him off. "Paul, can we just do this later?"

"No," Paul said. "I want to talk now."

"Okay," I said. "I'm filing for divorce when we get back to D.C. like I said this morning."

"Look, I don't know about all of this but I know about you and him and I am not okay with it," Paul said.

"Look, you and I aren't together anymore," I said.

"I thought we were trying to work things out," he said.

"I tried. But, you kept putting it off. So, I gave up," I said. I wanted to say: And, now I'm much happier without you- but didn't. I saw Jack coming towards and I knew we had to go. "We haven't been together in over nine months. We're not trying to work out anything anymore."

Jack met up with us. "Mr. Raines, I'm sorry to interrupt."

"She is my wife," Paul said.

"Paul, please," I begged not wanting him to make a scene. I excused myself and walked away.

I'm embarrassed by the way Paul acted. Jack must be wondering what I ever saw in him. Jack grabs my arm gently. "Let's go."

"Jack, I'm sorry," I said, apologizing for Paul.

"It's fine," Jack said. We walked outside and Jack opened the door to the car for me. I got in and then Jack got on the other side. The driver started the car and left and I thought about what I could say to Jack. Nothing came to mind.

Instead I moved closer to him. Our hands found each other's and he talked quietly into my ear. "What did you say to Paul?"

I considered whether or not I should tell him. It could scare him off. "That I'm filing for divorce as soon as I get back to D.C."

"Are you sure that's what you want?" he asked.

I looked at him. How could I want anyone besides Jack? "Yes."

He looked away but looked back to say "okay". I thought I saw a small smile, which disappeared almost instantly.

We were silent for a minute but all I wanted to do was talk with him. About anything.

"In case you didn't figure it out, my dad knows about us," I said.

"I figured as much," he said. "What did he say?"

"Not much," I said. "He didn't seem mad anyway. Just upset that we didn't tell him."

Jack smiled but didn't say anything.

"Go ahead," I said. "Say I told you so."

"No, I don't need to brag," Jack said. "Because you already know I was right."

I smiled and shook my head at him. I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. We went back to silence.

A couple minutes later, my phone rang. Paul.

"Yeah, Paul," I said, not wanting to argue with him while I was sitting next to Jack.

"Audrey," he said. "Do you have a minute?"

"Sure, what's going on?" I asked.

"I talked to your dad and he said something to me that I've been thinking about a lot," Paul said. "He said you're a big girl and I think I've been treating you like a child."

"I don't think that, Paul," I said, a little confused.

"Well whether it comes off that way or not, I need to respect your choices. Respect who you are. And," Paul said. He sighed. "I've been so stupid about all of this. I've lost sight of the things I love about you."

"Look," I said. Why was he doing this to me? Just give me the divorce. "I hear what your saying but I-I don't really know how to respond to that."

"Well, you don't have to," Paul said. "I just want you to know that I've been wrong about a lot of things. And, before you make any decisions- decisions you're entitled to make- just let some time go by. Is that fair? Is that fair of me to ask?"

I thought about it for a second. I couldn't believe I was doing this. One last chance. Not that he would ever compare to Jack. But, it was my marriage I'd be throwing away and even though things hadn't been good lately, we had been happy together for a long time. "Yeah. Yeah, that's fair."

"Okay, well I'll see you later," Paul said.

"Yeah, see you later," I said. Jack looked at me and I looked back. I could tell that he realized I was giving Paul some more time to change things between us. I felt bad.

"How far out are we?" he asked the driver.

"A few miles away, sir," the driver answered.

"Okay," Jack said. We didn't talk. I knew Jack thought I was crazy for continuing to give Paul more chances. But, he didn't say anything.

Jack's phone rang just as we pulled into the parking lot. The car stopped and Jack and I got out. Jack was talking to someone about the tapes. He hung up.

"Our office just got a copy of the guest list from the dinner where you saw this guy. Once you make the ID on the surveillance tape we'll be able to send it through a database. We'll be able to find out who it is," Jack told me.

"Okay," I said. Jack's phone rang again.

"Yeah?" Jack answered. I couldn't hear the other end of the conversation. But, he was talking to someone named Maryanne.

Jack looked confused by something that she said and we stopped.

"Okay, keep me informed," Jack said before hanging up.

"What is it?" I asked.

"We don't have a lot of time," Jack said. He grabbed my arm gently and led me to a back room. It was small and there was a man sitting in front of a computer.

"You must be Jack Bauer," the man said.

"Yes," Jack said. "This is Audrey Raines. She's the one making the ID."

"Okay," the man said. He pulled up the footage from that night. "We had security cameras running only on two areas. One was covering the main ballroom and the other was covering the entrance."

"Okay, put up both of them," Jack said. The man put the footage from the different cameras on two different screens. "The ballroom angle is too wide. Let's just go with the entrance."

"What time is that?" I asked about the footage of the entrance.

"Six thirty nine," the man said.

"No, that's too early," I said. "I met him when I arrived. Around nine- nine fifteen."

The man fast-forwarded the tapes until I finally saw him. "Wait, stop."

I went around to the other side of the man to get a better angle.

"Can you back this up a few frames?" I asked.

"Sure," the man said. He did until I told him to stop.

"I think that's him," I said to Jack. "Can you him right here?"

The man did but the image was blurry. I was pretty sure it was him though.

"That image won't process we need to make it clearer," Jack said.

"Let me see if I can get that for you," the man said. The man worked on it and I looked over his shoulder.

"Who's supposed to be at that desk?" Jack asked, looking at the surveillance of the building. I kept looking at the screen with the man I had seen. Jack seemed worried by what he was looking at. He talked into a walkie-talkie to try in get in touch with the man that was supposed to be at the front desk.

"How many ways into this area of the building?" Jack asked.

"Two," the man answered.

"Put them up," Jack said. He called into the walkie-talkie again and there was still no response. The images on the screen changed as the man pulled up the videos from the exits. Two men were lying dead on the floor. Then, the door started to open and Jack yelled at me to get down. There were gunshots once the door was opened and Jack shot the two men that had come in.

"You okay?" Jack asked.

"Yeah," I said. What was going on?

"Dammit," Jack said. I looked over and saw the man that had been helping us with the video footage had been shot. Jack checked his pulse. "I'm going to call for help okay. But first I need to know where the surveillance tape is. Where's the source?"

The man was dying and I didn't understand what he was saying. But Jack apparently did because he asked him another question. He must've gotten his answer because Jack went to a computer.

"Watch the security monitors," Jack told me. Jack asked the man another question. The man was having a harder time answering. Jack downloaded the footage and tried to save the man.

"He's gone," Jack said. Two men appeared on the screen in front of me.

"Jack, they're coming," I said.

"They're trying to seal us off," Jack said.

"Shouldn't we call CTU?" I asked.

"No," Jack said. "CTU has got to be compromised that's the only way they'd of known we were here. We gotta get out of here."

Jack grabbed the flash drive with the surveillance footage on it and told me to go. We ran down the hallway until we got to corner. Jack stopped me and went around, his gun drawn and ready to fire. Nobody was there so we went down another hallway. There were doors all around us and Jack tried the handles. They were locked except for one, which we went into. Jack took the gun off of the dead man in front of the door then came and sat down next to me.

"There's one in the pipe, safety's off," Jack said handing me the gun.

I had never shot a gun in my life. And, I had never had one pointed at me until today. "Jack."

"You can do this," he said. "We'll cover each other."

I took the gun from him, not completely confident. He took out his cell phone and started dialing.

"I thought you said CTU was compromised," I said.

"It has been," Jack said.

"Then who are you calling?" I asked. We went to the door.

"The only person I can trust right now," Jack said, looking out the door to see if anyone was out there.

The person obviously answered. "It's Jack. I need your help."

Jack told the person where he was and to bring a gun. Jack hung up and we walked down the hall, Jack leading the way.

"We need to go right," Jack said when we got to the end of a hallway. Jack stopped as he saw a man in the mirror in the corner. Jack shot him and we kept moving. We ended up in a garage type place and as we walked forward the garage door lifted. Jack pushed me behind a toolbox. We waited there for a second, quietly. But then a man came through the door we had just walked through. Jack shot him, which caused the all the men to start firing at us.

"Okay, we're going to get through this but you got to listen to me. I need to get that guy's weapon. I need you to cover me. Save your ammunition. Space out your shots. You ready?" Jack asked.

No. How could he trust me to cover him? I had no idea if I had good aim or not. But, I agreed anyways knowing that there was nothing else we could do. Jack ran across the middle of the garage and I fired off a few shots hoping that I was helping. And, then I ran out of bullets.

"Audrey stay down!" Jack yelled. He ran over to me.

"I'm empty," he said. Oh god. Now what? Jack picked up the gun; ready to hit someone with it. I held onto his arm and I could sense that the men were getting closer. But before they could make it to us, shots were fired and the men went down.

"Jack," someone called out.

"Tony?" Jack asked.

"You're okay?" Tony asked.

"Yeah, we're okay," Jack said. We stood up and ran out to Tony's car.