Mutual Purposes- Chapter Ten

Michelle slammed her fist down in frustration, causing a now cold mug of coffee to topple over onto the floor. She put her head in her hands, oblivious to Curtis as he grabbed some tissues and hastily mopped up the mess. "Another dead end," she muttered, her voice tinged with despair. Curtis threw the wet tissues into the nearest bin and turned to her. "Maybe we could both have a look?"

"One of us needs to remain focussed on Mark Russell."

Curtis stepped up behind Michelle and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Then let's do a swap."

Reluctantly, Michelle stood and traded seats, settling herself at the opposite end of the unit. "This guy's still playing games with us, Curtis. And now this."

"Do you think it might be related?"

She glanced briefly around her before answering. Quickly, she filled Curtis in on the phone calls she had overheard. "It makes no sense, but yes, I think the two are related."

Curtis stared. "Do you think Chloe knew Russell? Why would he want to hurt her?"

"Maybe he doesn't. He wants to get to Jack… Audrey knows that he and Chloe are close… perhaps she's hurting Chloe to get to Jack?" Michelle closed her eyes. "Oh, I don't know, Curtis. We need evidence and right now we just don't have any."

They sat in silence, each unwilling to believe the situation they now found themselves in. A series of beeps resounded from Curtis's computer, punctuating the already tense atmosphere. "Nothing… nothing," he muttered. "I've been back through all of Chloe's files but what Audrey said checks out." He faced Michelle. "What about the server? Although, it's probably already been looked at," he added despairingly.

"No, it's always worth going over it, just to make sure." She lowered her voice. "Pete isn't that thorough," she confided, referring to the second lead analyst after Chloe. "I know for a fact that he cuts corners."

Nodding, Curtis left his seat and began to make his way across the floor. "I've got my cell; call me if you hear from Russell," he told Michelle. Moving quickly, he passed by the designated DOD desk and out into the rear corridors. Shouting could be heard, familiar voices floating up from the holding rooms. Curtis paused for a second, his fists clenched in anger, before resuming his pace.

He found the doors to tech one already open. Mindful of Michelle's earlier encounter, he slowed down and drew his gun. Stepping quietly inside, he released the lock and waited until he heard the soft thud of the doors sealing themselves. Frantic typing from the corner of the room confirmed that he was indeed not alone.

The section of the server that he needed to work on was across the other side of the floor. If he moved, it meant he would have to walk past his unwanted co-worker, exposing not just them but himself. Curtis sighed. It was starting to get to him, that was all. It was most likely Pete, or one of the IT staff. Yes, that was it. Pleased to have convinced himself, Curtis replaced his weapon in its holster and walked briskly across the large room.

"You're not meant to leave the doors open," he called out, wanting whoever it was to identify themselves. When his words were met with silence, his earlier unease settled back around him like a shroud. Abandoning his computer, Curtis withdrew his weapon once more and walked towards the source of the noise.

A flash of blonde hair almost took his breath away, but he recovered himself in time to hide his gun from Audrey's view. "Audrey! I'm sorry, I didn't realise it was you in here." Curtis couldn't help but wonder if she simply hadn't heard him calling out; the idea that she was betraying Chloe was still to difficult for him to swallow. "Is everything okay?" He took in the tangle of wires at Audrey's feet. Elegantly, she sidestepped in front of them, blocking them from his view. "I was just setting up a station for my father; he'll be here soon and we need another computer to work from." She looked flushed, but whether it was from the oppressive heat of the tech room, or guilt, Curtis couldn't tell.

He averted his eyes from the wires and watched curiously as Audrey shut down the machine she had been using. Curtis recognised the familiar CTU eagle emblem as it faded from the screen. A series of numbers ran quickly before his eyes; he moved closer in order to get a better look, but his lack of technological training rendered the codes redundant.

Audrey stepped up beside him and frowned. "I haven't broken it, have I?"

Curtis shook himself out of his trance. "No, no, nothing like that." He managed a smile. "I guess it's just rebooting itself. Why don't you go wait for your father? I'll finish up in here; I've got some work I need to do myself."

He saw her hesitate, torn between her choices. She glanced around, as though to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything, and reluctantly stepped away from the wires. "Thank you, Curtis." She had almost made it to the door before she turned around; he thought for one second that she would come back but she remained where she was. "I'm sorry this is such a difficult time for you all." Her voice was serious, but not quite sincere. Bowing her head, Audrey made her way from the room.

Waiting until he was sure he was alone, Curtis pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialled. "Michelle, it's me. I need you to come to tech one right away."

…

Jack didn't look up as Tony placed a cup of coffee before him. "Where's Bill?" he demanded.

"He's on the phone to Heller."

"Heller?"

Tony sighed. "Heller is taking control of this investigation, as it is a DOD matter. I don't like it any more than you," he added bitterly, watching as Jack's eyes flicked to the door. It had taken a lot of reasoning and physical force to get Jack up the stairs and into his office. Tony had stopped short at locking the door, but only just.

"When he was here earlier, he thought Chloe was a hindrance to this investigation," Jack muttered. "Turns out Audrey brought her to his attention; felt she was a 'security breach.'" He all but spat the words. "He's not going to be fair with her, Tony. Not if he was already concerned."

"It wasn't Heller who was concerned; it was Audrey," Tony reminded him. He cast his eyes to the ground, knowing how close he was to revealing Michelle's doubts. "She was out of line, and we all know that."

"Chloe didn't do this, Tony."

"I know that."

Jack stood up. "I have to talk to her."

"You can't. No one, not even Bill, can go in until Heller gets here." He rose to block his friend's path. "Let Bill at least try and sort this."

"There isn't enough time!" Jack tried to move past but found himself pushed back into his desk chair. Angered, he lunged at Tony, pushing him roughly against the wall. A short scuffle followed, stopping only when Tony grabbed hold of Jack's wrists and pinned them behind his back. Breathing heavily, and sporting a black eye, Jack struggled futilely for a few minutes, and then sagged against the wall in defeat. Slowly, Tony released his grip and stepped back, rubbing the bruise that was now slowly forming on his jaw.

"You need to calm down," he said, moving to the glass wall of the room and glancing down at the bullpen. To his alarm, the comm. unit had been abandoned. A quick look towards the main entrance told him that Heller had arrived; he only hoped Bill had been able to talk some sense into him.

"I need to go and see her, Tony." Jack's voice was quieter this time, but the conviction remained.

"You care about her, don't you." He didn't bother phrasing it as a question.

"Of course I do, damn it, she's a friend. I'd be just the same if it was you in there."

"I don't mean like that," Tony explained.

"Then what the hell do you mean?"

"I mean, Jack, that you have feelings for Chloe. I've not seen you this worked up, not in a long time." He lowered his voice. "I know you and Audrey are having problems-"

"This has nothing to do with Audrey."

"Okay, fine. But I'm your friend, Jack. I know you. You've told me about all this stuff with Audrey, and I've seen how you look at Chloe. I'm not blind," he added in his defence, seeing an angry glare spread across Jack's face. "Do you still love Audrey?"

All the fight had drained away, leaving Jack vulnerable and suddenly tired. "I don't think I do," he admitted finally. "We've not been right for a while now, ever since we came to Los Angeles."

"Washington's a whole other world, Jack. You weren't yourself out there; sitting behind a desk, taking orders. She fell in love with the man she met, but that wasn't the real you. You said yourself that she doesn't understand."

"I tried talking to her, like you said, but she wouldn't discuss it." He took a deep breath to steady himself. Although he hadn't openly admitted how he felt about Chloe, Tony didn't need him to elaborate; he could see it in his eyes.

…

"I didn't think we'd be seeing each other again so soon, Bill." Secretary Heller smiled his thanks towards the two Secret Service agents that had escorted him inside, motioning for them to take up position either side of the holding room door.

Bill stepped forward and shook the shorter man's hand briefly, before closing the door behind him. "Nor did I," he muttered.

"It seems Audrey's hunch paid off then?" Heller's tone was almost conversational, but it had an authoritative edge to it. "Don't worry, Bill. We'll get to the bottom of this. You'll be coming in with me, I take it?"

"Yes."

"You may bring someone else; Audrey has to sit in on this too, so it's only fair."

"This isn't a game, Mr Secretary." The other man's laid-back attitude was irking him. "I'd appreciate that we just get this over with, so that Chloe can return to the floor. I have an investigation underway," he added, "and I need her in play."

"Bill, if you didn't have your doubts, Ms. O'Brian would not be sitting on the other side of that glass partition."

"I'd like to remind you that it was Audrey who brought this to my attention. As I'm sure you are well aware, she supersedes my authority, and it was she who ordered that Chloe be taken into custody."

Heller smiled grimly. "I am well aware of that. I was just testing to see where your loyalties lie."

"Rest assured that my loyalties lie with my staff," Bill warned dangerously. "I want you to treat her fairly." He paused. "Tony Almeida will be joining us during the questioning."

"Tony Almeida?"

"I need someone I can trust."

"Not Jack Bauer?"

"He shouldn't even be here, not after being involved in two major incidents yesterday."

"Fine. We'll start in five minutes." Secretary Heller reached for the door handle and disappeared away in the direction of the main floor, no doubt in search of his daughter.

No sooner had he gone than the door flew open and Jack crashed into the room, closely followed by Tony.

"What is going on here, Jack? If you won't go home, at least go and wait in your office, or help Michelle-"

"I need to speak with Chloe." Jack reached into his pocket for his key card and began typing the seven digit door release code into the pad on the wall.

"You can't do that, Jack."

"Then let me in on the interrogation."

"No. Tony and I will take care of it." Bill glanced towards the younger man, who nodded. "Please, Jack. Don't do this."

Beeping filled the room as the partitioning door released itself. "Five minutes, Bill. That's all I need." Not giving the Director a chance to respond, Jack pushed the door open and slipped through onto the other side, appearing seconds later through the dividing mirror.

…

"Chloe?" Jack stepped up behind her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. Slowly, she opened her eyes and lifted her head from her arms. Pulling up the empty chair opposite, Jack sat down beside her and took her small hand in his.

"I didn't do it," she said defiantly.

"I know you didn't."

"Try telling that to Mr Buchanan."

"He's on our side, Chloe."

She sat up fully and twisted in her chair. "You shouldn't be here," she said quietly.

Jack pulled his hand away as though stung. "I'm sorry," he murmured.

"You were hurt yesterday, Jack. Go and get some rest. Don't worry about me." She managed what she hoped was a smile, in spite of the tears behind her eyes. "Who is heading up the interrogation?"

"Bill and Heller," Jack replied, swallowing against the lump in his throat. He noticed how Chloe paled at the mention of the Secretary of Defence, but the look soon passed, to be replaced by one of anger. "I should have known," she muttered.

"Tony will be here, too," he reassured her, wanting to take her hand again but vitally aware that they were being watched closely through the mirror. "And… and Audrey."

"You're not sitting in?"

"Bill said no."

"Oh, right."

"Jack, five minutes is up." Bill's voice sounded over the intercom, and Jack got to his feet. "I'll be here though," he soothed. "If anything happens, anything, Tony will come and get me."

"I'm going to tell them the truth," Chloe told him, "about how Tony and I found those codes on my system."

"You've done nothing wrong, Chloe."

"Jack?"

He paused, halfway to the door. "Yes?"

Chloe dropped her voice. "Last night, I…"

"Last night was special," Jack murmured, loud enough so that only Chloe could hear him. "It meant something to me."

"Jack, I said your five minutes is up."

"Me too," Chloe said finally. "I just… if this goes wrong, I just wanted you to know that."

The lump returned to Jack's throat, and it was all he could do to turn away from her and walk briskly back through the door. He barely registered the fact that Audrey and Heller had assembled in the adjoining room, pushing his way past them towards Bill. "Get this right," he muttered.

"I will, Jack."

"I think we should start," Heller spoke up. "We've wasted enough time as it is. Mr Almeida, would you be so kind as to open the door for me?"

Tony did as asked and held back while the others filed through the entrance. Jack caught his eye and an unspoken agreement passed between them. "I'll go help Michelle and Curtis," he said softly. Tony nodded briefly, and waited until his friend had left the room before joining the rest of the small interrogation team.

…

Jack headed dejectedly back out onto the floor and across to the comm. unit, pulling up a chair beside Curtis and falling into it. The other man looked up from his work and smiled sympathetically, but there was something in his eyes that Jack could not quite work out, nor did he have the energy to want to. Michelle looked up briefly, and exchanged a worried look with Curtis before facing Jack. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah… just tell me what you're working on," he replied absently, noting for the first time what looked like a portion of the server perched precariously amongst Chloe's papers. Chloe…she should have been there. Jack felt a pang of emotion shoot through him and he put a hand to his head as though in pain. Knowing better than to repeat her previous question, Michelle carefully picked up the bundle of wires and nodded at Curtis. "Curtis was checking the server for anything that might help Chloe, and we think we've found something."

Jack perked up slightly, his interest piqued. "What did you find?"

His friends exchanged another look, one that this time did not go unnoticed. "Is there something you're not telling me?" Jack's tone was challenging and he looked Michelle square in the eyes. Curtis cleared his throat.

"While I was in the tech room, I saw Audrey."

"Yeah, so?"

"She'd gone in and left the door open, and didn't respond when I called out," Curtis continued. He nodded towards the wires, which Jack could now see were attached to a small hard drive. "This was on the floor, but she tried to stop me from seeing it. Told me she was setting up a station for her father."

"Maybe she was," Jack muttered, taking the equipment from Michelle in order to get a better look at it. "Although, surely she could have done that out here?" Something was nagging at the edge of his mind.

"Yes, she could."

"Have you found anything on this?"

"When she shut down the computer in the tech room, whatever she'd been doing hadn't finished loading. A series of numbers appeared but I had no idea what they were; Audrey seemed to know nothing about them. I called Michelle and we hooked it up to the comm. unit and…" Curtis didn't finish his sentence.

"How did you get this? You're not telling me Audrey just gave it to you?" Jack was well aware that his temper was rising, but he did nothing to control it.

"She left it," Michelle replied quietly. She paused before adding, "Jack, I know this is crazy, but-"

"If she had anything to do with what's happening to Chloe, she wouldn't just leave evidence lying around!" He dropped the small machine onto the desk, where it landed with a soft thump. Curtis reached out and steadied it before it could fall to the floor. "Maybe she wants to be caught, Jack," he said finally. Seeing the warning flash in the other agent's eyes, he continued regardless.

"This was hooked up to our server; it's not our equipment. As for the codes- we've got the most advanced decryption software on them, and they aren't breaking. They've come from an outside machine."

The full effect of Curtis's words began to slowly sink in, further adding to the nagging feeling. "You might be right," Jack whispered hoarsely.

Knowing not to push, they waited patiently for Jack to continue. "I overheard a phone conversation, while I was in medical," he said finally, wincing as he shifted position in his chair. It was clear that he was still in a fair amount of pain, but they all knew there was no chance of him leaving before the mess was straightened out.

"Audrey must have thought I was asleep; she took the call while she was sitting right next to me. I couldn't quite hear all of it, as she got up and walked around, but I got the general idea." Jack paused, remembering. "She said something about not liking someone, and having to remove them."

"Do you know who she was on the phone too? Did she say their name?" Michelle inquired, mentally fitting together this phone call with the two she herself had heard.

"No, no she didn't," Jack replied.

"We need to find out." Curtis thought aloud. "Jack… could you maybe get hold of her cell phone?"

"She always has it on her," Michelle sighed, before Jack could answer.

The simultaneous beeping of the computer and ringing of the phone brought the conversation to an abrupt halt.

"I'll get the phone," Jack announced, reaching for it and snatching it up. "Bauer."

"I was wondering when we would get a chance to talk, although I was hoping to speak to Chloe. Is she there?"

"What do you want, you son of a bitch? You'll talk to me."

"Is she not there? Pity. I might ring back in a little while. I was only going to ask her how she was getting on with the intel I asked her to copy off your servers. She was going to send it to me a few minutes ago but I never received it; is everything okay there? She's not in any trouble I hope."

Jack dropped the phone, the receiver slipping out of his grasp and onto the floor. His hands started shaking, and his breathing quickened. Numbly, he watched Curtis retrieve the phone and finish the call, but he didn't hear what was said.

"He's given me a clue to the final location, but he said that you and Tony would know where it was. Jack? Jack!" Curtis raised his voice. "What's going on? What did he say to you?"

But Jack was on his feet and moving quickly away from them. "Get Tony!" he shouted over his shoulder. "This is important."

…

"Ms. O'Brian, we'll go through it again. You say you found a code on your computer?" Secretary Heller frowned down at the piece of paper in his hand. "But that the code looked as though you yourself had put it in."

Chloe nodded, avoiding the eyes of the woman sat in front of her. Audrey seemed especially pleased with herself, and it showed.

"But… if you had put it in, does that not then mean that you were responsible for the alterations made to Agent Bauer and Agent Almeida's files, not to mention the errors appearing in Mark Russell's file which led to Agent Bauer being seriously injured?"

"I didn't hurt Jack," she whispered.

"But you did alter the files?"

"No."

Heller sighed. "That is what I don't understand." He flipped through his sheets of notes. "And the hacking of the Department of Defence… where exactly were you at this time on this date?" he asked, pointing to the small print on an official DOD document. Chloe couldn't help but notice that Audrey was the one who had signed the form, declaring that the systems had been breached, when she was not the one who had carried out the search…

"Surely that form should have been signed by your head analyst, or whoever carried out the investigation for you," Tony commented, indicating that he too had seen the mistake. Heller rechecked the paper, apparently unaware of such a problem. "No, this is fine. Audrey authorised it," he replied finally.

"But no one else has signed it," Tony countered.

"Tony," Bill muttered warningly, but he made no move to stop his agent from getting to his feet and snatching the form from Heller. "We need a copy of this," he announced.

"And you'll have one," Audrey said smoothly. "Right now though, we have other leads we need to follow. Bill? You said there was something you needed to show us?"

"I don't see how it is relevant to this."

"Oh, I think it is."

"What's she talking about?" Tony demanded.

"The watch." Buchanan removed a small photograph from the file in front of him, and passed it across to Heller. "Jack found this at the location of the first bomb."

"You still haven't answered my question, Ms. O'Brian, about your whereabouts on this date." Heller studied the photo closely, before handing it to his daughter. As Audrey reached out a hand to take it, she smiled acidly. "It doesn't matter where she was. She could hack in from any computer, isn't that right, Chloe?"

"That's enough!"

All eyes were on Bill following his short outburst. "Secretary Heller, with all due respect, I do not appreciate the tone of voice your daughter is using."

"Bill, I appreciate this is hard-"

"No, I don't want to hear that. Now let's just get this damn thing over with so we can go back to catching that moron."

"Fine. Your comments have been noted."

"That photograph was never intended to be used in this interrogation," Buchanan added, his voice barely masking an underlying rage. "It is for use with our investigation."

"Let me see it." Chloe looked at Bill imploringly. "If this has something to do with me, then I have a right to know."

The two older men exchanged glances. "Do it," Heller said finally, and Audrey slid the picture across the table.

Chloe's eyes widened in disbelief. She didn't need to study it closely; one look was enough. "It's mine," she whispered, her fingers once again going to her wrist as if to emphasise the point. "I wore it to work one day and it disappeared-"

"I think we've got what we need, thank you, Chloe." Audrey was quick to cut in, seizing the photo from in front of Chloe's eyes and passing it back to Bill. The Director was silent, not wanting to believe what he had just heard. Beside him, Tony was holding his head in his hands.

"Mr Buchanan, I swear I wasn't there."

"Please don't say any more, Ms O'Brian," Heller interjected. "This is bad enough without you adding further lies into the equation."

"To think you tried to have Jack killed," Audrey spat, her eyes flashing. "I could have lost him, no thanks to you!"

Chloe bit down hard on her lip, until she could taste blood in her mouth. Tears filled her eyes as she pictured the expression on Jack's face when they told him… "The watch was hers. She was there. She tried to have you killed." She'd told the truth and what for?

Michelle's voice sounded over the intercom, an almost welcome interruption. "Bill, Tony, we need you out here. Mark Russell has just called in."

"Chloe O'Brian has just admitted that the Rolex watch found at the scene of the crime belongs to her. Interview terminated at…" Audrey glanced at her watch, "… eleven thirty a.m."

Bill and Tony got wearily to their feet. Tony took his key card from his pocket and had just released the door when Chloe spoke up.

"There were no prints on that watch."

"Excuse me?" Audrey looked up in disbelief. "You have just said that it's yours-"

"Jack told me there were no prints," Chloe continued. "Why would I wipe my own prints off my watch, then leave it somewhere where it could so clearly be seen?"

"She has a point," Tony agreed.

"She's making it up," Audrey hissed.

"No, she isn't." Bill paused, one hand on the door. "We no longer have the watch with us; it was stolen during the attack on Jack. This needs to be looked into further," he warned, and turned to follow Tony.

…

"Jack is waiting in the arms room," Michelle informed them, as they emerged from the holding room and back out onto the main floor. "He took the call. Russell said something to him, but I don't know what. He dropped the phone; looked really shaken," she explained in response to Tony's questioning look. "Curtis was the one who got the location."

"Take Curtis with you," Bill ordered. "And back up. Jack's not going into this one alone. I'd rather he didn't go at all."

"We need him," Tony insisted.

"Fine. But hurry."

As Tony rushed away to find Curtis, Michelle took the opportunity to voice her concerns. "Bill, I need to talk to you about something."

"From the look on your face, I can tell this is important. What is it?"

"It's about Audrey."

Bill sighed. "What now?"

They started walking across the floor and to the comm. unit. Michelle logged in to the computer and set up radio contact with the field team, before answering the Director's question. She informed him of the phone calls, and repeated her earlier concerns about Audrey's being in the holding room without clearance. When she had finished, she looked expectantly at Bill.

"This is not good, not good at all," he said quietly. "Are you suggesting that this may be related to the Mark Russell threat, and what is happening to Chloe?"

Michelle nodded. "I think you need to involve Division, go over Audrey's head without her knowing. We need our best people on it, and you know as well as I do that Pete's nowhere near as good at his job as Chloe."

"The timing's too convenient for it not to be linked," Bill mused in agreement. "I wish we knew what Russell said to Jack, to make him act the way he did. I'm sure it would help us."

"He just got up and left. Something got to him."

"Okay. We're going to have to work together on this, Michelle, as we are the only two left in the building still in play. I'm going to go to my office, and call Division, as well as my contact from within the DOD. You're going to have to keep an eye on that decryption process." Bill pointed to the station next to them, where the machine was continuing its fruitless trawl through the lines of code. "At least until Division get here. I want someone else to look at that. To me, it looks as though it's being stored temporarily until it can be moved somewhere else, which means that if it is intel from our systems, we've hopefully caught it in time."