Extrapolation
Chapter 10

This wasn't happening. How could it be? She would be fine. She was always fine. She'd always been...

Chase's feet seemed to get feeling back and he took off running towards her, only to be intercepted by Marcus.

The EMTs were checking her for pulse and respiration, there weren't any signs and he needed to get to her.

Jack couldn't do anything but watch from afar. He'd give anything to be there. He eyes glued to the screen. This wasn't right. He was frozen, staring in disbelief. His breath caught in his throat. It felt like the chair had been pulled out from underneath him. Jack's dropped jaw and utter disbelief caught Edgar's eye. Jack didn't even hear it when Edgar called to him.

Edgar had worked with Jack for long enough to know that there were few things that would bring about this sort of reaction...and he figured that it was same thing that had sparked his outburst, his hitting the desk several days before.

Milo was passing by, delivering a folder when he saw it.

His attention left the screen as he realized she didn't know...

He turned on his heel, looking for her. She was heading back to Field Ops. If she saw this...

He thought quickly and moved to intercept the crayon-toting kindergartener.

"Hey short stuff," he approached her with a small smile, as if everything was fine.

She frowned a bit at the name. "Angela."

"I know," he nodded. "You want a soda?"

She was hesitant to answer. She'd been introduced to Milo before, but still she didn't know him.

"Well..." she thought for a moment...he had one of those ID badges and her daddy seemed to know him. She'd have to do one thing first...she wasn't going somewhere with an 'enemy agent' without someone back at headquarters knowing. "Lemme tell Grampa Bill first."

The girl took off and ran up the stairs to the second level. She rushed into the office of the regional director and Milo could see him nodding.

As she exited the office and made her way down the stairs, Bill followed, stopping at the railing and glancing down at the analyst, serious concern etched in his features. The look was echoed by Milo, who covered it, pasting a smile on as the little girl bounced over to him.

"Okay, let's go."

Pulse...Respiration...

A thought went through Arthur Fletcher's mind as he looked down at the young woman he'd been checking... no one should die like this... There was no reason for the eight bodies they'd found.

It was days like this that he wondered why he'd chosen to be an EMT. After twelve years on the job, he still had days he hated his job.

He motioned for another stretcher. It was then that he heard footsteps running up behind him. Glancing behind him he saw a man running and another one was lying on the ground, having been pushed down. Two of his fellow EMTs intercepted the man, holding him back. He was yelling her name.

'Chloe...' he looked down at her. It fit her.

He was about to stand up and help with the stretcher when he saw something from the corner of his eye... something that made his eyes widen. Her fingers...they were moving.

"Mark! Quick! We've got a live one!"

Tony Almeida found himself wandering around his old stomping ground with a sort of bittersweet nostalgia.

After everything that he'd gone through in this place, all the good he'd done, the things that always seemed to come back were all the mistakes he'd made... that and meeting his wife, not that the two were in any way connected...

Walking around, he heard several familiar voices greeting him; most were too caught up in their own worlds, or their own work, to notice. He didn't blame them. He'd gotten out of this world. Now working in the private sector with Michelle, now three months pregnant, it was... calmer, different.

He'd been lost in his thoughts and found himself walking by medical... Only after almost passing it did he come back down to earth and remember this was where he'd been heading all along.

The door was shut, and through the window he could see Jack sitting in the chair by the bed. He had expected Chase to be there too, but remembered that Bill had ordered him to spend some time with his kid.

'Smart man, that Bill Buchanan...smart man,' he couldn't help but think.

He turned the knob and quietly opened the door, sticking his head in before allowing the rest of him to follow it inside.

Jack's head turned to the intruder, only to find that it wasn't an intruder, it was only Tony. A weak smile, a forced smile, died on his lips as the man, one of his oldest friends, entered, moving a chair from across the room next to the bed. It was several minutes before either one spoke.

Tony looked at the hospital bed. He'd known Chloe for years, worked beside her on many different operations, hell she'd invited him and Michelle to her parents for Thanksgiving one year. He'd come to consider her a sort of younger sister...but one who didn't find it fun to steal his stuff... He looked at her, lying in the bed, noting how much smaller she looked. She wasn't a tall woman, but it made her look smaller... She'd hate it. He already knew that. She'd hate waking up here. She hated Medical almost as much as she hated her job... It was his experience that she didn't necessarily hate it all the time... He remembered talking to Ross Kessler once about how he did it. He had three kids, a wife and somehow made it work. His answer had been "Take joy from everything else."

"There isn't any change," Jack's voice brought him out of his thoughts and back to reality. "Wish that there was."

"Well, that's a good sign. Things aren't any worse either," Tony tried to look at it differently. "Our girl's a fighter," he said offhandedly. He'd always called Chloe that behind her back; she was one of the few active female field agents with the unit. "She's strong, and she'll pull through."

Jack looked at his friend for a moment before shaking his head. He didn't know what to do, didn't know what to say; this was hard... Harder than anything else he'd been through recently...recently meaning in the past two years or so. He'd been thinking so much these past three days and now that she was back... Kim's words... He didn't know anymore. He finally met Tony's eyes again - the other man clearly seeing his concern, worry and confusion within them - "I hope so, Tony...god, I hope so."

Tony put a hand on Jack's shoulder, patting him on the back, in an attempt to show his support...but Tony could see that Jack needed something else. He'd seen it all along .Hell the whole goddamned office could see it... only right now what he needed wasn't that. "When's the last time you ate?"

"Lunch."

That had been more than a few hours ago. "Sitting here starving yourself isn't going to help the matter, Jack. Head out, get some food."

Jack shook his head. "I've got to stay put-"

"I'll wait here till you get back. And I'll call if there are any changes."

Jack didn't want to go, but Tony wasn't going to take no for an answer...

"You aren't going to do her any good if you don't take care of yourself as well, Jack. She's in good hands. She'll be here when you get back. She's not going anywhere," he promised.

"I know." He was hesitant in standing up. He'd had her hand cradled in his own, brushing his thumb over her skin; the very last thing he did was to whisper "I'll be back," gently placing her hand back at her side. "Keep an eye on her for me, Tony."

Jack had his hand on the doorknob, looking at his old friend as he nodded. "You have my word."

As Tony sat there next to her bed, he noticed that she seemed to be going through REM... He took that to be a good sign...
Although she couldn't be certain if she was feeling something, she could tell when something was taken away. She could hear the buzz of a light and a low murmur that seemed to float around... but around where?

Earlier she had felt someone holding her hand. She thought that was it, but she couldn't be sure. What she could tell was when it was missing. And it was.

She slowly started to move her head a bit, squinting against the light above her head.

"Melanie, turn it off..." she murmured. Her sister had turned the light on in her room again in an attempt to wake her up. "Do it or I'll tell Mom..."

She heard a low chuckle.

"Mel, I mean it!" she whined.

She tried to turn over when she felt pain shoot through her torso and she shot awake.

She tried to sit up, which only caused more receptors to fire. Tony was at her side in a second, easing her into a reclining position again.

"Hey. It's alright, just take a breath, slowly," he said calmly.

Her eyes had closed again, but she had heard that voice before... she recognized it. She slowly opened her eyes again, and the fog ahead of them started to clear and she could make out a head of dark hair. As they cleared completely she found a small smile crossing her face.

"Tony?"

"So Sleeping Beauty's finally making the scene," he said, a grin playing on his face.

Chloe was coming out of the disorientation she'd felt only moments before, but she caught this.

"Are you quoting The Bugaloos?" she looked at him skeptically...she was getting her strength back now, feeling less sluggish.

A small chuckle escaped his mouth as he nodded for a minute. Chloe just shook her head with a roll of her eyes. Only Tony Almeida would steal a quote from a 1960s children's Saturday morning television program and then fess up to it...

It took a moment of Chloe thinking, now that she could do that again, before she realized that there was something wrong with this picture. Namely: Tony Almeida.

"Tony, what are you doing here? You don't work here anymore..." It started to make her think that maybe something was wrong.

"You're a really hard person to track down, O'Brian," he said with a shake of his head. "So how you feeling, kid?"

Chloe's forehead furrowed as she heard this. "...did you just call me kid?"

"Old habits die hard, Chlo'. Remember that. You're a perfect example of it. You and your disappearing acts," he said, ruffling her hair like the affectionate older brother he was.

"Disappearing act-" it was then that everything came rushing back to her and she closed her eyes, biting her lower lip. "What happened?"

He took a breath putting a hand on her shoulder. "They called me in to help look."

"How long?" She wasn't sure she wanted to know, but something inside her told her she had to. She had to get her bearings again.

"Three days."

"...three days? How did I lose track of three days?!" she asked.

Tony put an arm around her shoulder. Chloe'd always had a very good sense of time. He understood how this would bother her... to lose track of three days. "Hey, it's okay. We found you, that's what matters. And you're in one piece." he took her hand and pulled on one of her fingers. "See, it's not coming off."

Chloe looked at him for a moment, feeling pretty much back to normal before shaking her head amused. It never failed; he always seemed to know what to say. "You know you really are a screwball."

"Well one would hope so... Oh and that reminds me," he had had a small bag with him, now seated on the floor next to the bed. He reached down and pulled a small box out of it. "I went home to visit the folks and brought you a present."

Chloe took the box from him and opened it up. Inside was a white mug with a Chicago Cubs logo on it. It was just like the one Tony had always carried around CTU.

As she looked over the ceramic mug, he took out his cell phone and made a call. "Yeah, it's me... she's up...What?...Okay, okay. Just get back up here. Yeah, she's fine. Yeah, bye."

"So when did you get this?" she asked with a small smile, forgetting about the call.

"I figured that with me and my mug gone, they could use another one. I swear I heard from someone that CTU wasn't the same without it," he smirked.

"When did you get this?" she repeated

"A while ago, just haven't had the time to give it to you yet... now seemed like as good a time as any," in truth he hadn't meant to bring it, but he'd left it in his car the last time and it was there...but it was for her, and it might help. So there they were.

She smiled a bit, putting it back into the box and putting it onto the table next to the bed. "Thanks Tony. I'm sure your selfless act to bring Cubby back to CTU won't go unappreciated," she grinned. She gave him a hug.

"Yeah, that's me alright. I-"

Tony's thought was cut off as the door opened. Jack had returned and from the looks of it, he'd not only gotten something to eat, as he was looking a lot better than he had been, but he'd gotten back as fast as he could.

"Well I guess that's my cue. I'm going to go home and sleep with my wife."

Chloe looked at Tony skeptically, before hitting her head with her hand. "Now you're ripping off Clue!"

"I can't get one passed you, can I, Chloe?

"No, you can't. I've seen them all. You forced me to. You and Chase. So now I know them all! It's your own fault!" she exclaimed.

Tony threw his head back as he laughed. "Oh you win." he turned to his long time friend. "Hey, Jack, I'm counting on you to keep an eye on her for me."

Jack smiled a little with a shake of his head. "Don't worry, she's in good hands."

"The best. I'm sure." Tony walked over to the door, trading places with Jack. But before he could exit Jack's voice stopped him.

"Tony." The man in question turned back around. "Thanks."

"Not a problem, Jack. Get well soon, Chlo'. We want you to be ready to help us chase after the tot once it's big enough, and we need you at best form for that." With a wink, Tony Almeida opened the door and exited CTU Medical, leaving two of his oldest friends in his wake.

It was just the two of them in the room now and Jack made his way to where she was sitting on the bed, smiling.

"Hi." It was a stupid thing to say, but it was the first thing that came to mind. He felt like a teenager trying to talk to a girl for the first time...it was rather unsettling.

She could only smile at him. This time, she was pretty sure it was him. She didn't have any memories like this...that she knew of. She could touch everything, and the walls didn't fade in and out.

Jack saw her scrutinizing the surroundings, and how she was poking at things and he approached her. "Hey, everything okay?"

She looked around again before returning her eyes to him and scrutinizing Jack himself. Only then did she answer. "Well, I think so..."

She motioned for him to come closer and as he did, her eyes narrowed as she looked directly into his eyes. During this he sat down next to her. He hugged her, holding her close, mindful of her tender state. Looking down he saw that her eyes were closed. The question was: Why?

"What's wrong?"

"I don't want you to vanish... I kept hearing your voice and every time I tried to grasp at it it'd eventually disappear. If I don't look, this might stay. You might not disappear." She kept her eyes closed through this whole exchange and he couldn't help but shake his head.

"'Che faro senza Euridice?'" He rubbed her back soothingly, still holding her, a small smile on his face as he spoke. "We found you, it's over. You can look; I'm not going anywhere, my Eurydice."

She looked at him for a moment, a question shining in her eyes.

Drawn to her, Jack brushed his thumb over her cheek with a small smile. "Don't worry about it," he said, looking at her with a bit of laughter returning to his blue eyes, something missing these last days. He looked at her once again, leaning in a bit further, he whispered, "I missed you," bringing his hand to her chin and brushing his lips against hers. It wasn't demanding. Chloe wasn't sure if she was awake, and she didn't entirely care; she felt her lips move against his, enjoying it, in all its sudden and unexpected-ness. It lingered for several moments before breaking.

It took him a moment before he realized precisely what he had just done. While he didn't regret it in the least, he didn't entirely know what to do, this would make things very awkward from now on, wouldn't it?

He looked at her for a second before he found the words. "Chloe, I'm sorry, I-" He didn't get any farther. She didn't like what she was hearing. She didn't want him to continue. Instead of cutting him off with her words, she'd done just what he had moments before. Her lips found his. This kiss was nowhere near as gentle as his. He responded almost instantly. Chloe could feel it all the way down to her toes. Jack wrapped his arms around her. He tried to keep her injuries in mind, but he miscalculated. Chloe winced and he pulled back, Jack was worried he'd hurt her, and that concern mirrored in his face.

"Are you alright?" the question was expected, but she couldn't help but smile a little. She found comfort in how he cared.

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Couple of bruised ribs, I've had a lot worse, remember?" she asked trying to make a laugh out of it.

He was clearly still worried, and went to brush a stray strand of hair behind her ear when he caught himself.

"Chlo' I'm sorry."

"What? What for?" She was puzzled by this and shook her head a little with a small chuckle. Chloe would bear the discomfort. She didn't want him any more concerned.

They were quiet for a moment before Jack asked the inevitable question, "So what happened."

"I can't tell you."

Jack blinked a little, squeezing her hand a little. "Chloe, why not?"

"Protocol states I need to speak to Bill first."

"Protocol? Chloe you jus-"

"Jack, please. After what just..." she sighed. "Jack, I need something solid. Something that I can hold onto right now..."

"So hold onto me, not the protocols."

When he said this, she glanced at him, before looking away. She wasn't sure about what he meant... but she'd thought that the kiss had just been...well...a kiss. But after he said that... Finally he got fed up with the silence, however brief it may have been to him it seemed much longer.

"Look, Chloe, do you trust me?"

Her eyes flew up to meet his. "What? Jack, you know the answer to that."

"Just answer the question. Do you trust me?"

"You know that I do, Jack. Completely."

"Then trust me now," he sent a soft smile her way and gave her hand a squeeze. "Do you need anything?"

"No, I think I'm alright." She couldn't smile. She hated hospitals. She hated Medical at CTU. She hated doctors... She liked being healthy and hated feeling out of control. Hospitals and medical facilities made her feel this way.

"Alright. I'll go get Bill."

Jack started to walk away when Chloe grabbed his hand. She looked at him and spoke rather hesitantly. "Think you could stay?"

He didn't even have to stop to think about this one. "Of course." He gave her hand another squeeze and dug his cell phone out of his pocket. Pressing a button he brought it up to his ear. "Bill, it's Jack... Well yes, caller ID is a good thing... Yeah I know... Where? Medical... Yeah...Okay see you in a few."

He turned back to Chloe, placing the phone down on the table next to her bed before taking a seat next to her on the mattress and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "It'll all be alright. And Bill'll be right down."

There was a pause as the two sat there enjoying the other's company. Chloe leaned her head on his shoulder. For the first time since her abduction from CTU she felt safe, genuinely and completely safe. She let herself relax as he put his arms around her.

He smiled down at her, holding her a little bit closer. "You know," he said, softly, "I think you're the only person I know who gets into as much trouble when you've been grounded as when you're not."