6.00pm, CTU Los Angeles
As Alex walked towards the holding room where Nina was being held, he could only think about the few times he had seen her since her arrest. He remembered the visit to her in prison a few weeks afterwards, the couple of times he had gone to her trial, the visits he made to the jail she was in after she had been found guilty, and the moment just a few hours earlier when she had been brought back into CTU. Touching the door handle gently, he waited a few seconds before opening the door quietly. Nina didn't even notice at first, and she made no visible reaction to Alex as he walked into the room.
"Hello, Nina," Alex said as he sat down at the table. Her tired eyes showed no real reaction or emotion, and he wasn't surprised. He himself tried to mimic her lack of emotion, but couldn't help the flash of anger and regret that crossed his own eyes.
"Hello," Nina replied, and Alex could tell that she was hiding some emotion. Whether that was because she had almost killed her brother once and was close to doing so again, or because she was worried that the nuke would go off with her still stuck in the city, Alex had no idea. Standing close to the table that Nina was sat at – and which Jack had almost broken a few hours prior – he looked straight at Nina's face, and the bandage that was wrapped around her head. Alex noted that although she looked injured, there was nothing to suggest that Nina was even bothered by the injury – this wasn't surprising, as Nina had held out bravely for many months during her regular interrogation sessions after her arrest.
"How much involvement do you have, Nina?," Alex asked, although he got the feeling that any answer from Nina would be, as usual, mysterious, and that he could ask her the question over and over again and still he wouldn't get a satisfactory answer. Nina cocked her head and looked deep in thought, and Alex glanced over at the clock. Less than six hours left of the day meant that there was less than six hours left to save Los Angeles.
"Enough to buy my freedom, Alex," Nina replied, her voice firm. If it wasn't in her interest, she wouldn't even give someone the date or the name of the President, and she had stuck to this principle for a long time, and it had worked out well for her.
"What about the bomb attack on CTU? You sold those plans months before I transferred here. Would my death not mean anything to you, Nina?," Alex asked, and he hated how his voice had a slight quiver. Eye contact was broken for a split second, before his eyes moved back to gaze at hers. Nina seemed to be thinking of an answer – she had really not meant to put Alex in danger, but it was the only way she could ever bid for her freedom, to sell information. That was what she did, and she was an expert in the subject.
"It would have been impossible to change anything by then, Alex," Nina spoke, and she too took a quick glance at the clock. She had no idea when the nuke was going to go off, and was getting more anxious as the evening wore on. The last thing she wanted was to gain her freedom back only to be obliterated by a nuke. Of course, the thought of Jack Bauer being caught up in the nuke as well was a source of comfort for Nina, or at least the part of her that didn't still love him. She knew that she was not going to be released before the nuke either went off or was secured, and wished that she had been successful in her attempt to kill Jack back at the crash site. Rubbing her bandaged hand gently, she returned her gaze to Alex, who seemed to be lost in thought himself. Suddenly, his eyes moved quickly to look at her.
"How long will it be before you escape back to a life of terrorism, Nina? We both know that you won't just stay where the government wants you, and we both know that you have this self-destructive, sociopathic urge to get yourself into trouble. Do you have a plan yet, or will whoever you work for next get you out of there?," Alex asked, his voice quieter, calmer. His last question reminded Nina of Jack's own query after she had announced her need to go to Visalia, and although Nina knew that Alex did not have Jack's temper, she could tell there was a similarity in how they had phrased their questions.
"There's no plan, Alex, and I have no contacts any more," Nina replied, somewhat truthfully. True, there was no escape plan in the works, but she was lying about the contacts. Those were stored in her head, a huge directory of addresses, names and numbers that she used to her advantage and which was one of the reasons why she had to be so stubborn when the time came for them to try and get information out of her, because if she gave in, she could bring down entire terrorist groups. Moles in every federal agency would be arrested, sleeper cells would be rounded up, warehouses full of weapons would be seized.
"You think Jack will try and hunt you down, Nina? Try and get his revenge?," Alex asked, his hands leaning on the table and his head close to Nina's. She looked at the bruise on his face from the car crash for a moment with curiosity – she had not noticed it at first, but now she could see the whole black-blue mess in its entirety – before returning her eyes to his.
"I have no doubt that he will, Alex, but he has to think about Kim. I'm sure he wouldn't want her to be alone," Nina replied, before a small smirk appeared on her face. She knew that Jack would not risk hurting his daughter no matter what, and if she did manage to escape from wherever they were going to send her, she would make sure that he could never find her. Alex had decided that he had heard enough, and stood up straight.
"Someone will come in when it's time for your flight," Alex informed her, and he knew that she had to be forgotten about for at least a few hours, if he was going to be of any use to CTU.
6.20pm, O'Connor Hospital, San Jose, California
Kim was sat next to Miguel's bed, nervously holding his hand tightly in her own much smaller hand. She wanted to know more about what was happening in Los Angeles, but cell phones weren't allowed and she didn't want to leave Miguel alone, even though the doctors had told her that he was stable, Sighing quietly, she looked out of the wide window that almost stretched to each corner of the room, and she could see the blue sky, a calming colour. Suddenly, one of the machines that Miguel was connected to began to make an ominous noise, and Kim jumped up out of her chair.
"Someone! Come quickly!," Kim shouted, and the door sprang open before a doctor and nurse came rushing into the room. Asking Kim to make some room, the doctor checked Miguel's pulse whilst the nurse examined the bleeping machine.
"He's losing a lot of blood, we need to take him to the OR!," announced the doctor, a short woman in her fourties who looked like she was good at her job. The nurse, a taller man in his thirties, nodded before taking a sympathetic look at Kim. As they wheeled Miguel out of the room, Kim followed close behind, trying hard not to break down.
6.25pm, CTU Los Angeles
Splashing some water over his face, Alex looked at himself in the bathroom mirror. The injuries from the bomb blast and the crash were evident, and the bruises dominated his face. He knew he was lucky – so many people had been killed by the bombs, and Miguel was lying in a San Jose hospital bed in a coma. Walking out of the bathroom, he approached the bullpen, where Mason was looking at him.
"Not looking too great there are you, Alex?," the older agent commented, before coughing into his by now well-used tissue. Alex looked at him with concern – he knew that Mason had been exposed to radioactive material, and the man looked like it too.
"You don't have to stay here if you don't feel like it, George," Alex spoke, but Mason shook his head slowly.
"Nah, I need to be here, I need to stop this nuke. Besides, there's nothing to do outside of this building for me now. I would rather do what I can to help, you know?," Mason replied, before taking a sip of water. Walking over to his station, Alex turned to see George slowly stand up before beginning to head towards the toilets. He didn't know how long George had left, nor could he really understand just what George was going through, and he knew that alongside the millions of innocent people they were trying to save, George was there with them, even if he was dying.
6.35pm, O'Connor Hospital, San Jose, California
Kim was now sat in the waiting room close to the OR, waiting for any news of Miguel. The room was sparse, with a couple of chairs that were bolted to the ground and a vending machine that offered a small variety of hot drinks. The walls were a sickly green, which contrasted greatly with the dull orange carpet. Someone at the door caught her attention and, as she stood up to walk towards the surgeon, she studied his face for any sign of what news to expect.
"Miss Bauer, I have some good and some bad news. We managed to stop the bleeding and repair the damage that was causing the bleeding. However, we discovered that Mr Casey's right leg was damaged beyond repair, and we had to amputate it," the surgeon, a kindly middle-aged black man with a salt and pepper beard, spoke with a quiet, sympathetic voice. Horrified, Kim knew that she had to see the positives, that Miguel was alive, but she also knew that the loss of a limb would devastate him.
"Have they finished the surgery?," Kim asked, and the surgeon nodded. He could tell that Kim loved Miguel, and thought it was a great shame that such a young man could lose his leg.
"Yes, and they're taking him back to his room. He's still in a coma, and is expected to be for another few hours. Miss Bauer, do you think that you could tell Mr Casey about his leg, or should I arrange for a hospital counsellor to do so?," the surgeon informed her.
"I can tell him, thank you," Kim replied softly.
6.40pm, CTU Los Angeles
Nina had been asleep for the past ten or so minutes when she was woken by the sound of someone entering the room. Opening her eyes and looking straight at the person stood in front of her, she had no idea what she could say, and so decided to give him a warm smirk.
"How does it feel to have fallen so far, Nina?," Tony asked as he sat down across from his former girlfriend and colleague. Although he had gotten over her, he still found her attractive in a warped way, as if her beauty and intelligence that had attracted him to her in the first place had not been corrupted by her actions.
"Still hurting, Tony?," Nina replied, enjoying the flash of anger that crossed his face. Any attraction she had felt for him had gone as soon as he had seen her get arrested, and she couldn't resist bringing up Tony's love for her.
"Not any more, Nina, but you'll eventually get what you deserve for what you did to Jack and his family. I wish I could say that there's some part of you that doesn't deserve to burn in hell, but I can't. Not any more, Nina," Tony spoke, but Nina was unimpressed.
"Oh stop, Tony. You sound like one of those Spanish soap operas your mother likes to watch," Nina responded, recalling the time she had visited his parents. Tony bit his lip, wondering if it was a good idea to come into the room and talk to Nina.
"Do you want this bomb to go off, Nina?," Tony asked her, and Nina raised an eyebrow at the question, which sounded blunt yet accusing.
"Of course not, Tony. You may see me as a monster, but I can assure you I have no interest in seeing the bomb go off," Nina replied, allowing her voice to sound slightly indignant. She had merely used the plot as a vehicle for her escape plan, and was hoping – mostly for her own sake – that CTU would be able to stop the nuke in time. Suddenly, Michelle burst into the room, her eyes darting from Tony to Nina and back again.
"Tony, can I have a word, please?," Michelle asked calmly, and Tony nodded. Any chance to get away from Nina was going to be taken. Once the pair were outside the room, Michelle looked at Tony with concern.
"Tony, I thought you were going to keep away from her," Michelle asked, her voice calm and quiet as she stared at Tony.
"I guess I didn't, alright? Look Michelle, you know what that woman did to me, to Jack,to Alex. I can't just let her escape without at least getting some sort of explanation," Tony whispered, his head bowed slightly. Placing a hand supportively on his shoulder, Michelle looked at him.
"Tony, she'll never give that information up. All you can do is move on, and hope that she doesn't hurt anyone else," Michelle replied. Nodding, Tony began to walk back to the main bullpen, with Michelle walking alongside him. She knew that he had been hurt by Nina's betrayal, and she knew that it would take a lot of time for the mental scars to truly heal. She just wished that Nina Myers had never been involved in his life.
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