A/N I can't believe how ridiculously hard this was to write- I encountered a little bit of writers block so sorry about the late update. When you're reading this chapter think of it as from Audrey's mindset; difficulty concentrating, confusing etc. Again sorry it took so long. Enjoy!

Chapter Ten- Mind Games

Audrey wept uncontrollably into Jack's shoulder; her body shook violently but he held her to his chest, gently stroking the nape of her neck. He kissed the top of her head, waiting for the storm to pass. Eventually her cries began soft sobs. She looked up suddenly, afraid. She met his eyes with a desperate look, 'I didn't want to, they… they forced me to. I had to, I didn't have a choice. Please, you have to believe me, I didn't want to kill him…' she started to cry softly again and curled herself into a ball, overcome by grief and guilt. Jack used his finger to trace a circle on the back of her hand, over and over, until she lifted her head. 'It's okay, I get it, you did what you had to do. No-one is going to punish you for it.' He hugged her close and felt her relax by a fraction.

'I don't understand' she whispered 'Oliver is dead, how can he be here? He shouldn't be here. Why is he here?!' she was panicking again, rubbing her knee incessantly. Jack massaged his temples for a moment before beckoning to Doyle, who was stood by the door looking at Audrey with a worried expression. He walked over quickly. Jack stood and stepped away from the bed and, keeping his voice lowered, said 'the agent with concussion' he gestured towards the man, 'what is his name?'

'Tommy Ellison, he was lucky; a chimney breast protected him from the worst of the blast-' Jack had already turned back to Audrey.

He crouched down in front of her and sighed quietly. 'Audrey, the agent on the bed over there, his name isn't Oliver. His name is Tom, Tom Ellison'

'But he has, he has the same…' she struggled for the right word, clenching a fist in frustration; why was this so hard? 'Ta… Tat'

'Tattoo?' Jack finished. He turned to look at Ellison, who was apparently unconscious.

'Tattoo, yes, on his wrist, a… a scorpion' she gestured emphatically at her own wrist, mimicking the motion of a scorpion tail with her finger. Her movements were agitated now. Jack's eyes flew to Tom's wrist. Sure enough, there was a small scorpion inked into the skin. He began to feel uneasy. 'Doyle, I need your phone' he said urgently.

'What? Why? What's going on?'

'Just give it to me, now.' Doyle grabbed the phone out of his pocket and handed it to Jack. Audrey should not recognise Tom Ellison, let alone know about a small tattoo on the man's wrist. 'Audrey, I need you come with me for a little bit' Audrey looked scared but slowly stood up and wrapped her arm around Jack for support. Until now he hadn't realised just how difficult walking was for her; she leant on him heavily and tensed whenever she transferred her weight from one foot to the other. After a couple of steps Jack gave in and half carried her out of the bay and into Amanda's office. There was a small sofa next to the door that he guided Audrey to.

Doyle followed them into the room and stood in the opposite corner; he tried to give her as much space as he could- she was still nervous around him. Jack punched a number into the phone and waited whilst the call went through. 'O'Brian' said a voice.

'Chloe, I need a favour. I don't have much time' Jack said quickly 'a CTU agent, Tom Ellison, pull his personnel file. Tell me everything we know about him- especially his movements over the last year'

'Jack? Yeah sure, just give me a minute' Jack could already hear the tapping of keys through the phone. 'Jack, what's going on?' Doyle demanded, 'Why are you so interested in Ellison?'

'Audrey recognised him, even identified his tattoo' Jack replied. Doyle looked at him in confusion.

'That's not possible, he's only been working here for 4 months. Audrey was in China all that time'

'Exactly. What did he do before joining CTU? Was he with another agency or what?'

'No… No he was a private military contractor for a couple of years after leaving the Marine Corps'

Chloe came back on the line 'Jack, Ellison worked as a PMC after being dishonourably discharged from the Marine Corps. He was employed by Blackrock Security on assignments in Tanzania, Nicaragua, China, Iraq-'

'China? When?' Jack pressed his forehead against the wall, Doyle watched him intently.

'A little over 5 months ago, it was 6 month contract-' There was a loud bang as the door was kicked open. Ellison burst in and grabbed Audrey, pulling her in front of him and holding a gun beneath her jaw. 'Put the phone down, now' he said slowly, keeping Audrey in an iron grip and his eyes trained on Jack. Jack hung up the phone and placed it carefully on the desk.

'Olly, what's going on? What are you doing? I thought you were dead' Audrey whimpered as she struggled to remain upright. Ellison turned the gun on Jack and whispered in her ear, 'I don't have time to explain. I'm getting you out of here Audie, we're escaping. This isn't CTU, Cheng had this set up to deceive you. But I won't let that happen, I'm going to keep you safe. You have information they need, if I use you as a hostage they won't shoot us. Trust me' He smiled maliciously at Jack as he turned Audrey against him. The room around Audrey changed before her eyes; the stained concrete and rusted metal returned with a vengeance, the guards were back in their uniforms and the light yellowed and dimmed.

'I trust you' she replied quietly, horribly aware of the two guards in the corner, whips in hand but no guns. One of them shouted out. 'Audrey, don't listen to him, he's trying to trick you! You're not in China anymore' but Jack could see she was already gone, her mind had slipped all too easily back into survival mode. She only saw what he wanted her to believe. 'If you try to stop us, I'll blow her head off!' Ellison shouted, it was all a game to him. He knew exactly how to manipulate her. He hummed in her ear. She recognised the tune and smiled briefly, then the pair backed out of the room. Once in the corridor, guards appeared from everywhere, barking harsh commands and raising their weapons. 'There are so many of them' she whispered fearfully 'We'll never make it out'

'Yes we will, we going to make it this time' he replied quickly, 'They can't stop us.' One of the guards from the cell ran out, shouting. 'Hold your fire, hold your fire! Don't shoot' he waved down the other guards.

'See, its working' Ellison whispered, Audrey's heart lifted in hope.

'Ellison, you'll never make it out of this building alive' the guard said slowly.

'I will if you want her returned without a bullet in her skull' Oliver shouted back, jerking Audrey violently and ramming the gun back beneath her jaw. Audrey gasped in pain but didn't complain; she knew the ruse had to be convincing or they'd work out that Oliver would never actually hurt her- then they'd never escape. They painstakingly worked their way towards the stairwell at the end of the corridor. Both were so focused on keeping the guards in their line of sight that they didn't notice another take up position behind them.

Pain exploded in Ellison's shoulder as Curtis pulled the trigger. He fell to the ground, taking Audrey with him. The gun lay on the floor next to them as he clutched at his shoulder. 'No! Oliver!' Audrey screamed in panic as Ellison passed out, he was going into shock. She grabbed the gun out of his hand and stood over his body, shaky but protective. She pointed the gun at Jack. 'Stay back!' she shrieked, hysterical. 10 other guns were now raised and pointing directly at her.

Jack shouted desperately at the agents in the room, 'Stand down! Do not shoot!' he turned back to face Audrey and softened his voice a little, 'She's not going to hurt anyone'. Doyle walked forward and spoke quietly into Jack's ear. 'Jack, you know that whilst she's pointing that gun at you my men can't put their weapons down'

'Then have your men leave the room, I don't want one of them getting trigger happy; she's not going to hurt anyone' he repeated, 'she's just confused, she doesn't know what she's doing'

'That's what worries me' Doyle replied but gestured to his men to leave the room. Within a minute only Jack, Audrey and an unconscious Ellison remained.

'He shot Olly' Audrey said accusingly.

'I know, Audie, I know, but he didn't mean to' Jack said, pleading. 'Audrey, put the gun down. Oliver needs a doctor, but the doctor can't come in here until you put the gun down' G-d, her behaviour was so erratic; he didn't even know what to say. He took a deep breath. 'Audrey, I need you to do something for me, just a little thing.' She looked at him suspiciously. 'Look at your arm' her eyes darted to her forearm. It was littered with scars and cuts, bending and twisting their way across her skin. 'Now look at Oliver's.' She glanced down at his exposed wrist. She could clearly see his tattoo, but other than that the skin was clean, unmarred. Why hadn't she noticed that before?

Jack watched as a little realisation dawned on her. 'You see now, don't you? He's not the man you think he is. He was employed to gain your trust, a trust that they used against you.' Audrey closed her eyes for a moment as a blistering sun and a pool of blood burst into her thoughts. She was so tired, so tired of this. She just wanted a way out, she didn't want to hang on any more. She began to weep quietly; she would never truly escape China.

'Audrey please, talk to me, how about we go back to the beginning?'

'I'm not going back!' she screamed. Jack watched in horror as she put the muzzle of the gun to her own temple. 'I can't go back. I can't go back. I can't go back' over and over again, she was spiralling out of control.

'Audrey, stop! What are you doing?' Jack's voice was now as terrified as hers. 'I know this is hard, I get that, but please… this' he paused for a second and tried to inject as much emotion into his voice as possible 'this isn't the way out.'

'Everything hurts, Jack' she whispered, 'my body, my mind… I can't even tell what's real anymore! I'm done fighting…' she looked back down at Oliver. 'He kept me going in China, without him, I would have given in months ago. You know what they did to break me? After I killed him, they left his body in my cell.' She gave a cold laugh, 'I didn't sleep for a week because I was too busy trying to keep the rats off him… but there's not much you can do about maggots. I lasted just three weeks before I gave in, I was weak' She sighed as tears fell down her cheeks. 'I am weak'

'No, you're not weak. You survived. And right now, that's all that matters. Don't throw that all away. I just got you back; I can't lose you now, not like this. Do you remember what you said to me on our second date, after I told you about how screwed up my life was?' Audrey shook her head. 'You said to me "The mystery of human existence lies not in just staying alive, but in finding something to live for"

'Fyodor Dostoyevsky' Audrey muttered absently. Jack continued.

'You've stayed alive, now, let's find you something to live for. Live for me' Jack sighed and stepped forward, placing his hands around hers, then put his head to the side of hers, their bodies placed in a macabre embrace. 'There, now if you go, I go with you' Audrey's hands shook beneath his; he could feel her resolve waning. Very slowly, she allowed him to take the gun. She collapsed against him and broke down completely, he began to cry too; his tears lost themselves in her hair. 'Don't you ever do that to me again. Ever.' He whispered hoarsely.

'I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry' she whispered back as Jack wrapped his arms tightly around her. Their hearts were pounding against each other.

Doyle walked in, but neither really noticed, he took the gun from Jack and grabbed Oliver. Jack looked up for a moment spoke to him quietly, 'get his shoulder patched up and give him a shot of adrenaline, then move that sonofabitch up to Interrogation. I'd like a few minutes with him… Alone'

Don't forget to review, with any luck the next chapter won't be so long in the making...