DOD / CTU / Division Briefing

"What do we know about Camp Pendleton's situation? How badly were they hit, and furthermore are the Marines there still able to respond to more attacks elsewhere if the need arrises?", Heller asked Michelle.

"Sir, it is still too early for a full situation report, but from what we know, they have not been incapacitated. However, they have not yet been able to apprehend Ragen's men. It is possible they are still at the base, although very unlikely."

"Alright, I want you to put me in contact with someone at the Base, I need to hear first hand what's going on there. And keep me apprised of any changes regarding Almeida's or Bauer's situation."

"We will, Sir.", Erin answered, and Michelle nodded in agreement. The line was disconnected and Heller turned to his daughter. "Audrey, I want you to stay on top of this. Let me know if anything new comes up. I need to update the president."

"Sure, I will.", Audrey nodded and they left the conference room, with Pete following them out.

Ragen's hideout

Tony stands there, the gun pointed at Jack. He can't do it and Jack can see it. Maybe Jack could pull the trigger if their positions were reversed. But Tony cannot sacrifice his friend, even knowing the potential consequences. He hesitatingly starts to squeeze the trigger, but at the last moment he turns it towards one of Ragen's men in the room and fires.

As Tony begins to avert the weapon from him, Jack's only thought is that this is the end of the mission. Neither of them will get out alive. He closes his eyes for a second, waiting for Ragen to shoot them both.

Dammit, Tony, why couldn't you listen to me!, Jack thinks to himself. I told you a dozen times not to back off from something like this.

As the guard falls to the ground with a fresh hole in his head, Ragen points the rifle to Tony's head, Marie does the same with her pistol. "Drop it, Almeida.", Ragen says.

Resigned, Tony raises his hands and slowly reaches down to put the pistol to the ground.

"Step away from the gun. Down on your knees. Hands behind your head. You know the drill." Ragen orders Tony. While Ragen still holds Tony at gunpoint, Marie bows down to pick up Tony's weapon from the ground.

As Jack watches Tony surrender, his thoughts are racing. They're running out of time. He won't allow them to kill Tony. But what are his options? Sure, the ropes around his wrists are loosened, but right now, their chances of survival would be very low if he tried anything.

Tony complies with Ragen's command. He knows that Jack had hoped for him to do as told but he couldn't have lived with a clear conscience after that. At least now, if he dies, he knows he did what he thought was right at the time.

Not losing his aim, Ragen reaches for a two-way with his free hand and calls Jennie, to have her send a couple more guards into the room. Both he and Marie wait until the door opens and the men walk in. They instantly realize what's going on, and one of them takes aim at Tony's head, the other one at Jack's. Then, Ragen lowers his rifle and strides over to Tony.

Tony watches Ragen approaching him and just looks him in the eye defiantly.

Division

The phone rings in Michelle's office. Michelle closes a file she has been reading and picks it up.

"Division. Dessler."

"Michelle, it's Bill Buchanan. How are things?" he asks casually.

Michelle is a little startled as she recognises the voice on the other end. "Hey. I'm okay. It's been a busy day here today, as you can imagine."

"Yes, I saw the report in the intranet and been following what the media is saying as well." Bill changes his tone to a slightly softer one. "What about things between you and Tony? You told me that things were a little strained between you two. You still planning on coming back to Seattle in the near future?", he asks, his voice full of hope.

Michelle sighs to herself. "I... I don't..." she closes her eyes for a second. "Tony and I are trying to work things out. He has been released from prison only recently, I need to give it some time. Plus, he's trying harder now..." And risking his life in the process, she thinks to herself.

"So I take it you're not coming here then?", Buchannan asks, unable to hide a little disappointment in his voice.

Michelle pauses for a few seconds before replying. "Bill... When I requested the transfer to Seattle, I really needed the change of scenery. It was good to be away from all this, just dive into work, do something different, someplace else. But when Tony was released, I... I'm still his wife, Bill. He went to prison for me."

"I understand that... I just wanted to make sure you're okay.", Bill says, though admitting to himself that was not the entire truth. He was hoping to see her soon.

Michelle sighs heavily before replying. "Thanks. I am. And if things change for the worse, I have an open request for a leave of absence from CTU."

"Alright. But just so that you know if you need help or someone to talk to, I'm here for you." he says understandingly.

"Thank you. I really appreciate it..." But already she's feeling the time crunch again. "Look, Bill, we're in the middle of a situation here..."

"Yes. I'll let you get back to work then."

"I'm sorry..."

"Don't worry about it."

Slowly, Michelle hangs up the phone, takes a few moments to breathe in and out deeply, then gets up from her chair and leaves her office, going to the main floor.

Ragen's compound

"So... Almeida, is that right?..", Ragen says towards Tony, and then pauses for a few seconds.

"Tell me, Almeida, what have you been poking your nose into since you arrived here?... Who have you contacted when you were making your phonecalls? And where is Sean?" he whispers menacingly. "OK, scratch that, I assume you took care of him, you bastard.", he positions himself in front of Tony, waiting for a reply. "ANSWER ME!", he yells as he kicks Tony hard in the stomach.

Tony doubles over in pain, holding his stomach and after getting his breath back he looks again at Ragen and replies.
"You son of a bitch. Don't you see what you're doing? You're attacking innocent people who have nothing to do with your hatred! Those Marines were not your enemies, they've sworn the same oath as we as officers have!", he scoffs.

"Tony! Don't!" Jack shouts out. The words escape the control of his mind. It's one thing losing your own life, but sacrificing someone you care about? They've both been there. They both know it's just not the same.

"SHUT UP BAUER!", Ragen shouts, waving his weapon towards Jack, "I'll take care of you soon enough!"

He nods to the guard next to Jack, who punches Jack hard across the face, then pulls Jack's head back, and from behind, places a knife at Jack's throat, grinning sadistically as he starts piercing a tiny hole into the skin with the tip of the blade. "Make a sound, and I'll slit your throat just in time for you to watch your friend die with you.", he whispers into Jack's ear.

Ragen grins, then grabs Tony by the hair and forcefully pulls him back up from the floor and onto his knees, tilting Tony's head towards Jack. Red creeks caused by the cuts on Jack's body are flowing down, joining at several points and pooling on his pants and underneath the chair. "Talk to me, Almeida... Look at your bleeding friend. Wanna end up like that, too, huh?", Ragen says, gesturing towards Jack. "Except I don't think you're quite as tough."

Ragen lets go of Tony and pauses, letting his words sink in. He stands, still looking at Tony. "Tell me who you gave the information to and we won't have to find out.", he says menacingly.

Tony streches his upper body again and glares at Ragen, his eyes full of anger and hatred: "Go to hell, you son of a bitch. You've failed, they'll get you." he retorts.

Angered by Tony's impertinence, Ragen hits Tony forcefully at his lower back. "You insolent son of a bitch!" Ragen yells furiously. Tony sinks to the floor with a groan and Ragen kicks him in the stomach. Tony rolls to his side and pulls his knees towards his chest, trying to protect himself. "Don't you ever suggest I could fail!", Ragen shouts again at Tony, determined to beat him to death if need be. Tony feels the full force of the first few kicks in his stomach before Ragen starts bruising his ribs. As Ragen stirs himself into an even bigger rage, his kicks land on Tony without mercy.

Jack watches as Ragen's boot repeatedly disappears from his view, hidden by Tony's body that wraps around it with every kick, and then reappears for a moment only to be buried in Tony's stomach again a moment later. He feels terrified, infurated by this, but is unable to help. Stop it, you son of a bitch, you'll kill him! He doesn't chance a move though, the sharp blade of the knife still in close contact with his Adam's apple. Hold on, Tony. Hold on, he begs inwardly.

It seems to Tony as if countless minutes have passed as he hears his ribs crack, the explosive pain spreading through his chest.Trying to protect himself, Tony moves his arms to his chest when Ragen kicks him in the head. Breathing heavily, Ragen stops for a while. "Ready to talk now, Almeida?", he utters.

Sensing that blood is flowing from his nose, Tony instinctively puts his hands to his face, trying to keep it from flowing into his eye. Getting lightheaded from the blow to the head and moaning in pain, he rolls over to his back, inwardly praying for Ragen to stop before he can no longer control the urge to regurgitate his entire stomach contents in front of Jack.

"Not yet, huh?", Ragen concludes after a short while and begins kicking Tony again. Laying sprawled on the floor, Tony can feel him hitting his kidneys, only praying that they won't start bleeding. After giving a couple of savage kicks more to Tony's back and side, Ragen motions to the man who has had his gun pointed at Tony: "Get him up."

The man approaches Tony and kneels beside him. Tony is still dazed from the blows and doesn't resist, allowing the thug to grab him and haul him up, holding him up by his arms.

Ragen stares at Tony for a few seconds. A bright red streak is spreading from Tony's eyebrow down his cheek, his upper lip is broken and blood from the nose is flowing by the side of his mouth.

Ragen lifts Tony's chin so he can look him in the eye and speaks directly to Tony's face: "I'll ask you again, you scumbag. Who did you contact?... I can prolong your agony, soon you'll beg me to let you die but I won't let you. I will break you before I kill you."

Tony doesn't say anything, he just stares at Ragen with hatred in his eyes. You can beat me Ragen, but you´ll never break me mentally. I've already spent my time in Hell., he thinks to himself.

As the guard holds Tony, Ragen punches him multiple times in the stomach, then nods for his henchman to let go and step back. Tony hits the floor, lying still, trying to recover, the severe pain in his entire body stopping him from even trying to move.

Happy to finally be able to get revenge for what Tony and Jack did to her, Marie laughs as Tony sacks to the floor again, and then she slowly walks over to Jack, an evil stare in her eyes. The thug behind Jack lets go of him and steps back.

Marie stops in front of Jack and stares at him for a couple of seconds, enjoying the sight. Then, out of nowhere, she grabs Jack's wounded arm, squeezing the wound tightly, until the rags wrapped around it are painted deep red again. Jack groans in pain when she presses on the wound, but she smiles wickedly and whispers to him:"Payback's a bitch, isn't it Bauer?"

While Marie is still squeezing the wound on his left arm, Jack decides it is now or never. Dropping the loosened ropes to the floor, Jack grabs Marie's throat with his right hand, grabs her gun with his left, shoots the thug standing next to Tony and pushes Marie into the man who had had the knife at his throat. Marie and the guard land on the floor and the man hits his head on the wall, passing out instantly.

Now standing, Jack backs to the wall and aims the gun at Ragen. "Move away from him."

Unimpressed by this display, Ragen aims his weapon at Tony, who is still on the floor, knees pulled up to his chest, trying to soothe the agonizing pain in his entire torso.

"Or else what?", Ragen scoffs at Jack.

Jack says nothing, but pulls the hammer back on his gun, looking Ragen in the eye as he does so. God, please let me be faster than him.

"Drop the weapon Bauer. Or your friend dies. You know I have the time to fire before that bullet hits me."

Not averting his eyes from Ragen for even a split second, Jack briefly moves his gun out of position and shoots the unconscious guard who is lying on the ground next to Marie. She glares at Jack, not daring to make a move. Her eyes are wide open in shock, the bullet having flown just inches past her own head.

"She's next." , Jack states dryly. "I don't know why you broke her out of prison, but I take it you had a personal reason. So, you kill my friend, I kill yours and then it's just the two of us."

After hearing the first sounds of gunplay, Jennie jumps from her seat, Dammit, I knew this was going way too smoothly, she thinks to herself. And I guess we're not on the good side of those bullets either. She draws her weapon, deciding carefully which is the best way to play this out. She hears Ragen yelling and someone yelling back, she presumes it must be that Bauer guy. Perfect! If he's loose, it would not be good news, a guy with his record...

She leaves her desk and paces the room to find a good location to wait concealed. Let's just hope I was wrong about Smith, but my gut doesn't usually let me down, she thinks. Besides, how did Bauer get loose? He had to have someone on the inside, watching his back and it had to be Smith. Well, at least her gut instinct wasn't letting her down, even if everyone else around her was. She makes her way around the room. Whatever's going to happen, she'll be ready for it. She looks around. Where the hell is everyone else? Right, some of them are on their way to their next assignment. The plan won't be stopped by this whole thing here, so that's good. The others are outside.

Inside the holding room, Ragen stares at Jack fearlessly. "Go to hell, Bauer!" He starts to squeeze the trigger, while Tony closes his eyes, waiting for the shot to ring out any moment.

"Alright! OK, I'm putting my weapon down, ok?" Jack says. "I'm putting it down!", he repeats and Ragen slowly releases the pressure on the trigger, but not averting the gun from Tony.

"Do it now.", Ragen says, and watches Jack carefully, resolved to shoot both Jack and Tony in an instant.

"Here." Jack begins to lower his weapon very slowly, and Ragen already starts smirking sadistically. But instead of dropping his gun, Jack suddenly raises it again, and pulls the trigger, hitting a surprised Ragen between the eyes, and Ragen goes down.

Jennie is listening to the conversation as best she can, she hears Ragen's venomous comment to Bauer, then the gunshot, she listens, but no longer hears Ragen, Crap, sounds like he's down. Great, now what? Jennie reaches for her radio, "I need back up in here now, Ragen is down, I repeat, Ragen is down!"

"Tony, you alright?", Jack asks, his eyes and aim now on Marie.

"Yeah.", Tony breathes a sigh of relief and begins to pull himself up to his knees, slowly, but groans in pain loudly as he forces himself to stretch his torso so he can stand up. Annoyed with himself, he sinks back to the floor. "Son of a bitch..."

"Hold on, Tony.", Jack says and walks backwards towards him, while keeping his gun pointed at Marie. Still holding the weapon in his left hand, he pulls Tony up with his good arm, carefully watching Marie as he does so. When Tony is stable on his feet again, Jack carefully lets go of him. "Can you walk?"

"Yeah." Tony nods. It feels as though there isn't an inch of his body that isn't hurting. He's struggling to force his rib cage to move so he can breathe, still slightly nauseated from the blow to the head and fighting for his stomach contents to remain where they belong when his entire abdominal area feels like it's been put through a grinder. But there is no other choice, they have to leave the premises quickly. "Yeah, I can.", he says again. Mom always said if you lie to yourself often enough, you'll start believing it at some point. You better hope she was right, Tony tells himself.

Like hell you're alright... You're not, my friend. I know you're not. But we got to move, Jack thinks, but hopes they'll make it out safely anyway. "OK, let's go.", Jack says, waiting for Tony to take a first few steps towards the door, but Tony doesn't move for a few seconds.

"Jack I..." Tony sighs, feeling the need to explain himself and also trying to recollect some strength. "I just couldn't pull that trigger."

"It's alright." Jack answers. He knows Tony well enough to understand what he was going through. "Pick her up. We gotta get out of here.", he tells Tony, still aiming at Marie. "Marie, I'm warning you. Don't try anything. I'd hate to blow that pretty head of yours to pieces. Get up."

Marie does as told, then Jack picks up a gun off one of the dead men and hands it to Tony, who takes the gun but then staggers for a moment as a wave of pain hits him powerfully and he has to hold onto one of the chairs for a second, somehow managing to escape Jack's attention. He doesn't want Jack to think he needs to lead him out of there like an old man, knowing that Jack will have his hands full taking care of that Barbie-look-a-like-terrorist by the wall. Tony grabs Marie by her arm and pushes her forward in front of him and towards the door. "Let's go."

Jack grabs his phone from the table where Ragen's men had put it when they brought him in and puts on his jacket, after throwing away the bloody pieces of his shirt. "Stay here.", Jack whispers to Tony, as he slowly opens the door, hiding behind it to assess the situation. The room seems way too deserted. This is not right, Jack says to himself. Nothing's right here.

Jack reaches for Marie and pulls her in front of him, then walks through the door with her, and Tony follows, both men trying to stay as covered as possible, staying close to the wall.

Wordlessly, Jack signals to Tony to pass them and Tony does, finding shelter behind a shelf and flattens himself against it. He carefully looks around, then motions for Jack to join him, who does. "We need to get to the other end of the compound.", Tony whispers. "I remember Ragen's got most of his guards at the front door, we stand a better chance going the other way.", he finishes.

Jack nods. "OK, let's go.", he whispers back. Tony's probably right about the guards, but the compound seemed large enough to him to seriously doubt their chances of getting through the entire complex and making it out safely. Still, knowing there is no other choice, he tightens his grip on Marie's arm and moves ahead with her.

Jennie watches a doorway she knows they must pass through if they're trying to escape. She can see shadows moving around. She needs a better location. Very quietly, she skirts around the desk a little way, making sure she can't be noticed, There, that's better, now I've got ya, she thinks as her view is clear.

Jennie raises her firearm, holding it steady. This is what she enjoys most, inflicting pain on those who think they're superior. She watches carefully and sees her chance. Squeezing the trigger, she aims low and catches Smith in the gut, bringing him down ."Gotcha you weasel, I knew you weren't who you said you were", she mumbles.

As Jennie shoots, suddenly gunfire erupts from all ends of the compound, inside and out. From a corner of his eye, Jack sees Tony's figure fall to the ground behind him, and an immediate feeling of defeat overcomes him. "NOOOOOO!", Jack yells in fear and anger.

As the bullet hit him, Tony felt like someone inserted a hot lead piece into his stomach. He sinks down to his knees, feeling the blood flowing through his fingers and from there he falls to his back. Struggling to stay conscious, he tries to call out for Jack but the pain is too intense.

"Now to finish you off!" Jennie yells. "You son of a bitch!"

Jack dives behind a desk and crawls over to Tony to see if he's still alive and sees a gaping wound in Tony's abdomen, which doesn't make him feel very optimistic. But at least Tony's still breathing. He might be able to help Tony if they get out of here and he gets to a hospital quickly enough.

Jennie raises the gun again, getting ready to fire another round, teaching them not to mess with her. This is her chance to make things right, for everything she believes in. She moves to the side to get a better shot.

Jack notices her movements and fires twice in her direction.

Jennie manages to duck out of the way, Geez, that was way too close, must focus.

"Tony, stay down." Jack says, purely out of habit, cause obviously, there's not much else Tony can do right now. He knows he has to take care of Jennie before he can help his friend.

The adrenaline was pumping way to strong through Jennie now, she had one goal and one goal only, to destroy.

Jack manages to circle around the desk, hiding from Jennie's view, moving swiftly and not allowing her to lock aim on him.

Damn this guy, why can't he just give it up? "Come on, come on, stand still and let me shoot you for crying out loud", she mutters under her breath.

Tony realizes he has to get away from the open, he's too exposed. He tries to get up but the searing pain quickly forces him down with a quiet groan. Unable to move, he feels the sticky warm blood slowly gathering underneath him.

This is it, Tony. You're not leaving here alive, he thinks. Michelle... He tries to picture her pretty face before his mind's eye, her beautiful, deep brown eyes, her wayward curls... I know I promised to come back, sweetheart... I'm so sorry to let you down - again.

She had gone to work that morning having a feeling something bad would happen. He had told her it was just the grey weather that was making her feel low. "When you come home tonight, it will all be different. I'll have a job and you'll be promoted", he had told her, smiling, just to reassure her, not believing for a second that he'd actually get that job he'd applied for. He had given her a kiss and she had left.

Tony smiles as he clearly sees her face before him. I can't think of a prettier sight to die with, honey. Please don't hate me for leaving you. I'll always be with you, he thinks, feeling his consciousness slowly drifting away; fighting it, but unable to do anything but helplessly wait for death's scythe to cut through the thin thread his life is hanging on.

As Jack approaches Jennie and finally gets a clear shot, a bullet whistles just past his ear and he ducks immediately. "Dammit.", he utters.

The gunfire outside the building starts to cease. Two of Ragen's men in the first room go down from the well placed shots of a CTU field team, with Baker in the lead. They fan out to search the other rooms for any more of Ragen's men. They methodically go from room to room, clearing them with deadly precision. Couple of Ragen's men lay down their arms, seeing that it's a losing battle and the CTU team takes them into custody.

The entrance of the Feds hasn't been lost on Jennie and she begins to run away. As she does so, she moves in Tony's direction. Not wanting to give her another oportunity to finish off his friend, Jack fires a shot in her back.

Jennie feels a sharp pain driving through her back, she stumbles, but manages to catch herself, before falling. Drawing from her reserves, she manages to get behind a doorframe, safe for a second - but now what?

Jennie keeps hold of her firearm, trying to block out the pain in her back. Damn him!, she thinks to herself. She sees movement in the corner of her eye, knowing she's got to get out of there. She spies some boxes. Maybe there is a way.

Jack slowly follows Jennie, and finds her behind the doorframe. She looks so helpless, almost crouching on the floor, holding on to the gun in her hand although he can clearly see she wouldn't be able to control the path of the bullet. He knows that it's over, with CTU on site and the gunfire starting to die down, and Jack almost lowers his weapon.

But then his eyes fall on Tony. Sprawled on the floor, bleeding, in agony.

He saw her fire that gun. Despite knowing better, he aims at her heart and fires. Twice.

Jack remains standing for a couple of seconds, as if to make sure Jennie is really gone, then turns away and runs over to Tony. Crouching next to him, Jack places his weapon on the floor.

Suddenly, Tony feels a hand slowly being pushed under his head. He was sure the hand was larger, rougher, nothing like Michelle's. Through the haze, he hears a familiar voice speaking to him and realizes it's Jack.. "Tony? Tony, can you hear me?", Jack asks.

Tony gives a slight nod, unable to see clearly because of the pain. Jack is relieved to see Tony's still conscious, although only barely so. Tony grabs Jack´s arm to get his attention. Every breath is like slicing cut to his lungs as the broken ribs move. The pain in his abdomen is almost unbearable, but he knows he cannot give in to the tempting darkness just yet. Don´t give up just yet. It will all be over soon. Able to focus momentarily, Tony makes eye contact with Jack..

"Jack….I want you to tell –" Tony starts but is stopped by a surge of pain.

"No, Tony, you'll tell her. You'll tell her, you understand me?", Jack tells him. I'm not letting you die in my arms here, he thinks, looking towards the exit. "You don't have to talk, help is on the way. Backup's here, we're gonna get you into surgery right away, ok? Just hang in there, alright?", Jack says, the urgency in his voice alone revealing how serious the situation is.

Tony closes his eyes, listening to the faint sounds around him, feeling them get ever more distant.

Jack glances towards the exit, he can hear the backup team approaching but he can't see them. Dammit, get over here, he's thinking.

"Let me see this.", Jack says as he slowly pulls his hand away from under Tony's head and carefully lifts Tony's shirt up, to see the wound. Clearly, Tony is losing too much blood, they have to get him to a hospital fast or... Jack doesn't end this thought, it terrifies him to even think about it. He takes off his jacket, folds it quickly and presses it against Tony's wound tightly.

He knows this is hurting like hell. "I'm sorry, Tony, but I have to try to control the bleeding."

Tony moans weakly in pain as Jack presses on the wound but now he knows it's over and finally lets go, sinking into unconsciousness.

While Jack waits for the backup team to find them, Marie Warner is in a car, driving away from the compound, smiling to herself. The passenger's window is broken, shattered glass on the seat next to her.

Baker finally enters the hall and sees a shadow crouching in the half dark of the room. He aims at it, but doesn't fire, shouting that the man identify himself.

"It's Jack Bauer! Tom, don't shoot! Get the paramedics in here NOW, Tony's down!"