8.00pm, supermarket, Douglas, Chicago

Mamud was getting impatient. CTU had not contacted him for some time now, and the incident involving the crowd had got to him. He knew that the American people hated terrorists, but he had never really come so close to interacting with them before. Looking over at the group of scared hostages, he decided to contact CTU himself. Picking up the phone, he dialled the number Sarah had used to contact him.

"This is Mamud again. I wish to make an offer – I will release three female hostages if you manage to get us in touch with Khalid," Mamud spoke, hoping that the agents would accept his offer. He needed advice from his leader, and needed it soon if he were to get out alive.

"I'll see if that is possible, and I'll get back to you," Sarah replied, tired but trying not to let it show in her voice.

8.05pm, Cassars house

As she woke up, Michelle turned to see how Alex was, but couldn't find him anywhere. Shouting Cassar's name, it took her a few times before he arrived at the door.

"What is it, Agent Dessler?," Cassar asked, slightly annoyed at the fact that his hostage was demanding his attention.

"Where's Alex?," Michelle enquired, looking straight at Cassar.

"He's in another room. I thought it would be wise to keep you two separated. You'll be able to see him when you are released later," Cassar replied.

8.10pm, van, Templeton, California

The van had stopped, and the slamming of two doors at once had made Alex nervous, until he smelt petrol and reasoned that they had probably stopped for gas. Deciding to take a risk, he moved his blindfold down slightly, so that he had at least some vision. It was dark and Alex could tell that it was night time. Sitting up as quietly as he could, Alex took a look around the van. Separating him and the front seats was a thin curtain, and Alex assumed that they wouldn't bother looking behind it unless he made a lot of noise. Pulling the blindfold completely off, he used what little light he had to examine the rope around his wrists, but soon discovered that it would be too hard, and take too long, for him to be able to gnaw through it. Freezing as the pair returned to the van, he listened in on what they saying, and discovered that they were at least a couple of hours away from their destination. Alex could only theorise on what sort of things were planned for him to turn him into a terrorist, but he was quietly determined to resist it all the way.

8.15pm, White House

Palmer was on the phone to President Khatami, trying his best to get Khatami to agree on Mamud's offer. He knew that it was, in a way, capitulating to the terrorists, but Palmer reasoned that it was worth ensuring at least three innocent people would be protected.

"I'll see what the INSI agents have to say, Mr President, but it is entirely up to them. They are the ones who know him best," Khatami said. If it were up to him, he wouldn't hesitate, but it wasn't, it was up to the people who had a real and accurate idea of who Khalid was and how he operated.

"Very well, Mr President, I will await your reply," Palmer spoke. Sighing, he put his head in his hands, and tried to block out all the stress. He knew that to be POTUS was to virtually carry the world on his shoulders, and he had been mostly successful. It was when he failed, he failed badly and it seemed that he was destined to be rememebered just as much for his mistakes as he would be for his successes. Palmer was fine with that, but he still wished that he had been better.

8.20pm, Cassar's house

In his office, Cassar was on the phone to his buyers. Although he wasn't yet in control of the shipment, he was confident that things were going well enough to suggest that he was.

"The shipment will be in Watsonville by tomorrow morning," Cassar spoke.

"Good, Mr Cassar. I'll meet you at the agreed meeting place tomorrow morning at 10am," his buyer, the voice disguised so much that he couldn't even tell if it were a man or a woman, replied, before hanging up. Placing the phone down, Cassar worked out his plan over the next few hours. If everything was to go as planned, he would be leaving his house shortly after 11pm, and be in Watsonville by half one in the morning. He had to deal with Alex first, but after that he could afford to sleep for a few hours before needing to get up around 6am to make sure everything was ready for the meeting. Although he had lost $240 million to Amador down in Mexico, he knew that he could get a much bigger price for his shipment.

8.30pm, van, north of Templeton, California

Alex was sat against the side of the van, carefully listening for any clues as to their destination or current location. He was wondering how Cassar was going to be able to change his mindset so radically, that it would somewhat similar to the psychotic mass-murderer mindset his sister seemed to have in her final few years. He knew that brainwashing came in many different ways, but there was surely no brainwashing method that could turn him in a few hours. Realising that Cassar planned to hold for him for quite some time, Alex began to grow concerned for his nephew. The kid had only known him for a few hours, and to him it might look as if Alex was abandoning him.

8.35pm, outside supermarket, Douglas, Chicago

Sarah was on the phone with Wayne Palmer. He told her that the Iraqis were going to allow Mamud to speak with Khalid. She watched as the phone rang inside the supermarket.

"This is Mamud," Mamud spoke in English, before the caller replied in Arabic. It was an INSI agent, telling him to put the phone on speaker, and that Khalid would talk to him and the other terrorists present. Doing as he was asked, Mamud and the other Al-Sufi members waited for a moment for Khalid to being speaking.

"This is Khalid, Mamud. I know that you are doing this to try and free me from jail, but this is not the way we operate. Taking Americans hostage on American soil will only get you killed, and us further from our goals. Therefore, I am asking you to surrender," Khalid spoke in clear Arabic, although his voice was tired. Mamud looked at the phone angrily, before pushing it off of the counter.

"He's being forced to say that! We will disregard his opinion!," Mamud shouted in Arabic, but the others disagreed. The hostages, as well as Sarah and the police, were looking at the terrorists as they began to argue. It would be their downfall, as five police officers plus Sarah managed to sneak into the building undetected.

"Why don't we calm down and drop the weapons?," Sarah spoke, as she pointed her gun right at Mamud. Cursing in Arabic, he refused to lower his gun for a few seconds, before relenting.

8.40pm, CTU Los Angeles

Chloe was busy talking to Jack on the phone. She had informed him that the shipment was in CTU hands, and that the hostage crisis in Chicago was over.

"Wait, this is all about AK-47s? Cheap, former Soviet weapons that any third-rate terrorist can get his hands on?," Jack replied, confused. Noone of Cassar's calibre would be so bothered about the weapons, no matter how many there were.

"That's all they found, Jack. I asked Curtis to look in every box, but it's just those guns," Chloe spoke, just as confused as Jack.

"Is there anything else on the ship that Cassar might be interested in?," Jack enquired. He was certain that the guns were not the shipment that Cassar was interested in, and wondered if they had even got the right ship.

"I'll contact Curtis, ask him to get his team to search the ship again," Chloe replied.

8.45pm, White House

"Thank you, Agent Henderson, your actions are appreciated both by the President and myself. Please pass on our thanks to all involved, and our condolences to the family of Office Arroyave," Wayne spoke to Sarah on the phone, pleased that the hostage crisis had been ended without a single bullet fired or hostage hurt, although the death of Arroyave was a tragedy that he was sure could have been averted if the media had not been tipped off to what was going on inside the supermarket. They were no closer to finding the leak, and Wayne wondered if the Al-Sufi group themselves had informed the media. It wasn't a new thing, terrorists had warned of bombs before they went off before, so it wouldn't be too different to inform them of an ongoing hostage siege.

"Today is one of the reasons why I won't be missing being President too much," David spoke as his brother finished on the phone. Two hostage crises in one day, and he was hoping that the turbulence of the day had settled down.

8.50pm, Amador's ship, Pacific Ocean

Curtis was in the room with the crates, where they had found the guns and where supposedly this shipment that Cassar was so interested in was supposed to be. Looking in one of the crates, he picked up one of the guns and examined it. It was certainly real, and it was one of hundreds on the ship.

8.55pm, CTU Chicago

Hannah was waiting for Sarah as she returned to CTU.

"Are you OK, Sarah? There's no news of Alex, and Josh thinks that you should probably go home and rest," Hannah asked Sarah as she walked towards her station.

"I'm a little shaken, but I'll fine, and I don't want to go home just yet, not when I have no idea of how Alex is," Sarah replied. She and Josh were close, even after their two year relationship, which had started soon after Alex had started at CTU LA, which had ended after they realised their work was seeping into their relationship too much. They were still good friends, though, and spent a lot of time together.

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