E-W13:) Thanks! Oh, and the Sniper is from Phonebooth. Actually you reminded me I wanted to put up a list at some point. Annnnd, it's funny you mention Starbucks... You'll see what I mean. ;p

anna: Sorry for the long wait! I'll have another one up pretty quickly I hope, as this one is pretty short. I'm glad you like the plot!

Weatherfac: He was:) Honestly I didn't overly like Phonebooth, but Kiefer Sutherland was good in his role. See the end of the chap for where Banks is from. That was a pretty good movie.

Disclaimer: Still, I own nothing but the plot. All characters are from their respective movies/tv shows which belong to their respective companies.

As always, reviews are appreciated.

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No Signal

Jack stepped through the door-less entrance of the unfinished building where the sixth look-alike, the nameless sniper, had just been killed, a scowl on his tanned semi-tanned face. Mick who had been leaning against the wall beside it looked up and straightened. Jack hardly spared him a glance, but reached into his pocket and tossed something to him. The detective fumbled for the thrown thing, and caught it at the last second. He realized what it was even as Jack spoke.

"Your phone. I don't know how much use it'll be," Jack told him, referring to the fact that his phone only seemed to be able to make contact with Mick's. Then he handed him his badge and gun as well and added, "I'm sure you know already, but the imposter is dead."

Mick straightened uncomfortably and just as Jack was about to continue away, Mick spoke. "We have an hour, Jack, to find Sutherland."

The federal agent turned back to look at him. Mick's face was stern, but he seemed somewhat humbled or disgraced, Jack noted. His voice, usually stern and hard, not much different than his own, was quieter and more guilt ridden.

"Why?" was all the agent asked.

"It's David. I have information he wants. Something I saw after you shot him and I touched him to check for a pulse."

"And?"

Mick sighed and glanced away. "Look, Jack, after that... imposter replaced me and I was heading towards Schreber's place and David showed up. Cut me off. He'd been watching you all and your progress on locating Sutherland. He saw I was coming to intercept you all and expose the imposter so he stopped me. Said he didn't want any delays. After you figured out where Sutherland was, he told me he intended to kill you and the imposter for crossing him. Then said he wanted me to tell him what I saw."

"Why would he know you saw something? What would he care?"

Mickey Hayden sighed again, Jack's cynicism towards his 'ability' apparently making him uncomfortable. "Remember when he was handcuffed in the car? After he... 'came back from the dead' and appeared in that office building?"

"Yeah," Jack replied.

"I said something that let him know I'd seen how he died, how he had become whatever freakish horror movie incarnation he is now. Apparently he doesn't remember it, and frankly I don't blame him for forgetting," Mick explained with a shiver of disgust. "But that knowledge is apparently important to him now, so I used it to gain leverage. But it wasn't enough to save both you and the imposter. I couldn't risk him deciding it wasn't worth it and just killing everyone so... so I made a choice."

Jack had several things he wanted to say on the subject, but he held his tongue. This detective had done what he thought was right, the only thing he could think to do. Mick was a good man, Jack believed, and had Jack been in the same situation, could he really say for sure he'd have behaved differently? Probably not. Apparently bullets really didn't stop David, so how could he have risked Mick and the imposter's life, not to mention that of Schreber and Banks. Not when there was still the option of getting the information he'd wanted from Sutherland instead.

Jack knew more than most that sometimes you had to cut deals with the bad guy. But that didn't make it feel any more right.

"I assume you still haven't told him, and that's why we have just one hour?" Jack questioned, his tone somewhat less hostile than it had been.

Mick nodded. "And if I don't tell him after that..." Mick trailed off ominously and Jack got the picture. He sighed.

"All right. Then we'd better hurry."

He started away and checked his phone which once again was saying 'No Signal' even as Mick hurried to walk beside him.

"What about the imposter? What about Banks? ...Is he-?"

"Dead. I got there too late."

The look alikes were silent a moment as it sank in, then Mick spoke up again, somewhat quietly as if out of respect for the dead.

"We can't just walk off and leave them here. We should call the authorities," he said as he checked his phone. "Do you have a signal?"

"No," Jack answered. "You?"

"Nope."

Suddenly Mick's phone rang and the man jumped. "Jesus Christ! I thought-"

"That was me," Jack replied, cutting him off and hanging up with a flick of his finger. "I can call your phone, despite the fact that I have no signal, but I can't call anyone else."

"What does it mean?" the detective questioned, eyeing his phone as if it were a disobedient child.

"I don't know. It's like we're being cut off from the outside world," Jack replied as he looked up at the clear night sky. It was still dark, but dawn was only two hours away now. The agent had already been up for a good 24 hours and he was starting to wish for a cup of coffee. "Come on. The area we enclosed on the map is only a quarter mile from here."

"But what about the bodies?"

"We can't do anything about them now," Jack replied, not unkindly. "Did David give you any impression he'd want to harm Sutherland?"

Mick looked like he wanted to argue about Banks and the sniper, but instead he shook his head and answered the question. "I have no idea with that kid. But even if he doesn't, someone else might. Another one like us."

Jack stifled a groan. How many more versions of himself could there possibly be?

"All right. You can deal with the bodies if you want or you can go back and check on Schreber. I'm going on. I doubt David would harm the doctor, but we don't know what his motives are with Sutherland."

"Agent Bauer, I'm going with you. You need backup. And another set of eyes. That section you zoned off was several blocks long."

"Fine." Jack checked the clip of his handgun. It was still filled to more than half capacity. He had two extra clips in his pockets which he hoped would be enough to last him through the next few hours. "Let's go."

-.-.-.-.-.-

The pair started off at as quick a pace as they could manage and in less than 10 minutes they'd reached the 'quarantined' area of the map. They strode past several smaller buildings, shops and restaurants, any of which they knew could be Sutherland's place of employ. They stopped at one shop, a Starbucks coffee shop, when they decided they had run out of adrenaline to keep them awake and that they might as well see if they could get information out of the people inside.

Jack had got to go in last time, when he'd gone in for groceries they'd ended up forgetting about and Mick declared it was his turn. Jack just wanted to sit down (though he didn't admit it to Mick), as he was again suffering from having a decent amount of blood drained out of him so he didn't argue. He sat on the sidewalk against the building and watched the cars go by, pondering all the different scenarios he could come up with for the next few hours.

Mickey strode into the Starbucks. It was a small but well kept little shop, empty now save the man at the counter and one customer who had the heavyset build and dirty baseball cap look of a truck driver. Mick thought this odd as the street-side shop was hardly a truck-stop. He'd just decided to keep a suspicious eye on the guy when the guy behind the counter surprised him.

"Mr. Kiefer Sutherland!" the tall, brown haired Starbucks employee greeted. Mick jumped and started to look about him before he realized the guy was talking to him. He gave a small smile, still crooked from surprise and the other guy continued. "Back in again are ya'?"

"Again?" Mick questioned before he could catch himself.

"Yeah, this is your second time today! Well..." the green garbed employee checked his watch, "I guess it's technically your first time today now. Man, this shift is the pits."

Mick managed a small half hearted laugh and stepped up to the counter. Had Sutherland really been here? Or had it been one of the look alikes? With no way to be sure he just put the idea aside.

"So what can I get ya', Kiefer?"

Mick ordered two coffees and a bottle of water to make sure his doppelganger got rehydrated.

"To stay or to go?"

Mick looked at him somewhat incredulously (did the man honestly think that all this was for him?). "To go."

"Just makin' sure," he said as he went for the coffee maker. "I guess it's really not that far to get back, eh?"

Mick did a double take. "What?"

"Where you're working? Just a few blocks down? Last time you made it sound like you were living out of your trailer these days. Lucky for you there's a Starbucks just down the street, huh?" he asked with a chuckle, as if it were supposed to be amusing.

Just down the street. They were close. So close. The detective paid, thanked the man, and left with his goods so quickly it didn't even occur to him to remark on how there seemed to be a Starbucks on every corner these days.

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Character List

Here's a little something I typed up for all you fans of Sutherland. So far, the Characters are from the following:

David: the Lost Boys [ of course! ;)

Jack Bauer: 24

Mick Hayden: Eye of the Killer (aka Finding Alice)

Arthur Banks: Desert Saints

Daniel Schreber: Dark City

The Sniper/Imposter/Caller: Phonebooth (in which he was identified as "The Caller")