Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter 20

Chloe sat at her station, working steadily, trying to get the last of her reports done, while she kept one eye on Morris, who was also working quickly. She watched him get up and walk towards her station. "You almost finished, sweetheart?" he asked.

"Yeah. Just a few more files to reformat, then I'll be done."

"Listen, Chloe, about earlier-" Morris started, but Chloe held up her hand to silence him.

"Morris, it's okay. All that matters is that you stand by me."

Morris smiled and gently grabbed her hand. "I'll stand by you, Chloe. We're going to have a child. I won't leave you again" he promised solemnly. "I just wanted to talk to you about what you told me before. Are you sure about this, Chloe?"

"Yes, I'm sure, Morris. I've never been so sure of anything in my life" Chloe replied matter-of-factly. Except when it comes to Jack.

"Then I'll join you, darling. I've already got it ready." Morris handed her a paper. Chloe scanned it, then handed it back to Morris. "Thanks" she told him, then looked at her screen. "Look, can we talk later? I want to get this finished, then I'll talk to Nadia."

Morris nodded and headed back to his station. Chloe finished up the last of the flagged items in her inbox, and looked up at the Director's office, where Nadia was speaking on the phone. Might as well get this over with. She picked up the folder on her desk and made her way up to Nadia's office, knocking on the door. Nadia waved her in. "What is it, Chloe?"

"I need to talk to you, Nadia. It's important" Chloe replied, laying the folder she was carrying on Nadia's desk and sitting down.

"What's this?" Nadia asked, picking up the folder and opening it.

"My letter of resignation" Chloe said quietly.

"You're resigning your position?" Nadia asked, almost incredulously. "Chloe, I need you here. You're the best analyst we have. This office is not in good shape right now. If you leave, it could make things worse."

"I'm not leaving for another few weeks" Chloe told her. "I'll stay long enough to train my replacement. But this is something that I have to do for me."

"Tell me what I can do to change your mind. I'll bump up your security clearance, give you a pay raise, anything you want."

"I've already made up my mind, Nadia. Nothing you offer is going to change it" Chloe said.

"Is it because of what happened today? Do you want a few days off? I can bring some people from Division to cover for you" Nadia offered.

"It's more than that. Nadia, I've been working in this office for 7 years. I've been arrested 3 times, hunted by hitmen, not to mention I had to watch one of my best friends die right in front of me, and I couldn't do a thing to save him. I've been wanting to leave for a while, but I put it off after the bombings started. Today was the last straw, though. I'm burned out. I need to do something different with my life. I don't want to wake up every day wondering if I'll survive to see the next day."

Chloe sank back in her chair and looked wearily at Nadia. Please don't turn me down, Nadia. I need this.

Nadia looked at her, then picked up her pen and signed Chloe's letter of resignation. "I really hate to lose you, Chloe, but I guess there's nothing I can say to convince you to stay."

Chloe stood up and shook Nadia's hand. She turned to leave, but was stopped by a hand on her arm. "There's something else, isn't there?" Nadia asked.

I guess she should know. "Don't tell anyone, but I'm pregnant. That's why I collapsed earlier. I just found out today. That was the final thing that convinced me to leave."

Nadia smiled and gave her a quick hug. "Don't worry, Chloe. I won't say a word. Now go home and get some rest. I expect you in at 1800 tomorrow night."

"Thanks" Chloe replied and walked out, stopping only briefly to shut down her station and collect her things. The fatigue of the day had returned full force and Chloe's only thought was collapsing on her bed and sleeping for a few days. Morris ran up to her as she was leaving. "Ready to go, sweetheart?"

"Yeah. Let's go home."

2424242424

Chloe was woken up by the insistent ringing of her phone a few hours later. What now? She grabbed her phone wearily. "What?" she snapped.

"Chloe?"

Chloe jolted out of her stupor immediately. Shooting a look at Morris, who was fast asleep, she walked out of the bedroom quietly and ducked outside. "Jack?" she replied quietly.

"Yeah, it's me. Listen, Chloe- I'm sorry I disappeared without talking to you first. I just wanted to thank you for yesterday. I know you risked a lot to help me, not just getting the blueprints for the nuke, but for trying to keep me from being killed by Fayed. You were the only person who cared whether I lived or died, even when I was willing to be sacrificed" Jack told her.

"Jack, you don't need to thank me" Chloe said. "I did it because you didn't deserve to be sacrificed to a terrorist, not after everything you've done."

"I know." Jack went silent for a few minutes and all Chloe could hear was his steady breathing. "Chloe, I- I don't know what I'm going to do with my life now, but whatever it is, it has to be away from the government, away from CTU."

"I know how you feel, Jack. I need to get away from CTU as well. That place has caused me nothing but grief. I'm leaving, too. Now that I'm pregnant, I want to be able to give my child a good life, not surround it with death and misery." Chloe shut up quickly. He doesn't need to know I'm pregnant. I'm sure he doesn't care.

"You're pregnant?" Jack sounded surprised. "Well, that's great! Congratulations, Chloe. You deserve it."

"Thanks, Jack."

"Listen, if you ever need anything, don't hesitate to call me. You have my number. Call it anytime" Jack said.

"I will. Goodbye, Jack."

"Goodbye, Chloe."

Chloe hung up and leaned against the wall of her apartment. I'm definitely never going to see him again this time. We're both out of the game now. But at least he's free. Free from China, the government, everything. That's all I can ask for.

2424242424

Chloe walked in to the house she and Morris had bought and sank down of the couch. She was exhausted, but very excited. The interview at Kabor Technologies had gone very well and Chloe had been offered the position as vice-president of programming and logistics. It might not be the most exciting job in the world, but at least there's no chance of dying there. I've had enough of that for one lifetime.

She absently touched her stomach, thinking of the child that was growing inside her. This child is our future. He or she deserves a better life than what we had.

The phone rang and Chloe wearily got up to answer. "O'Brian residence."

"Chloe?"

Chloe froze. No way. "Tyler?"

"Yeah, it's me. Chloe, please don't hang up the phone. I need to talk to you."

Chloe scowled. "I have nothing to say to you, Tyler."

"Look, Chloe, just please hear me out" Tyler said. "I know you're still angry with me, but-"

"But nothing" Chloe interrupted. "After what you did to Jason, there's nothing to talk about. We haven't seen each other in 20 years, and now you want to talk? Well, I don't want to hear it."

"Chloe, I'm begging you. Please. Let me come see you. There are some things I need to tell you."

What the hell does she want? "Fine. But you're not coming here. Come to Alvin's Diner on Korton Rd. We'll talk there." Chloe hung up, her good mood gone. She grabbed her jacket and walked out of the house, leaving a note for Morris. Why is she contacting me now? What could be so important? Whatever, I'll hear what she has to say, then I'll never have to see her again.

2424242424

"Wake up, you slag!" Chloe was snapped awake by a stinging slap across her face. She tried to move, but found herself restrained on a gurney, the metal restraints pressing painfully on her still shattered legs. She had been stripped of her clothes and she shivered in the cold air.

"It's been a while, O'Brian" Chloe stiffened as she recognized the voice immediately. She turned her head to see Miles Papazian standing there, smirking. "Miles?"

"Of course" he answered smugly.

Chloe slowly put the pieces together. "It was you. You're the one who told Burke about me. You're the one who gave him the hard drive. But how did you-"

"Know about it? I was involved with the project myself. I found out about the hard drive and stole it years ago. It took a lot of work to corrupt the files so my involvement would never be discovered. I tried to find out who had programmed that hard drive so I could get into it, but I didn't have the right clearance. So I stored it away, waiting for the right time. All those years I spent slowly climbing the ladder, all of it was to get access to those files."

"When Homeland took over CTU, I checked your file and found out that you were the one who was responsible for creating that hard drive. You can't imagine how thrilled I was that I had found what I was looking for. However, I knew that you would never willingly give me what I needed, no matter what, so I tried to figure out how to force you to do it. Had you not escaped from CTU, I would have gotten you to do it then."

"When I destroyed that recording, and Logan offered me a position in his administration, I thought I didn't need that hard drive anymore. With this new job, I could have access to much more current information. But then you had to ruin everything. Because of you, O'Brian, I not only lost my job, but I went to prison. My reputation was destroyed. All those years I spent, wasted. Everything I had worked to achieve was gone, thanks to you. All that kept me going those long months in prison was getting out and getting revenge for what you took from me."

Chloe was stunned by his outburst, but she quickly recovered. "You brought it on yourself, Miles. You picked the wrong side."

"Shut up!" Miles snapped, driving an elbow into her stomach. Chloe gasped as the air was driven forcefully from her lungs and she coughed violently gasping for air. "This was never about that hard drive, was it?" she choked out. "It was just an excuse so you could have me kidnapped and tortured. You knew I'd never give it up. You only wanted to see me suffer. That information was always secondary to me being tortured."

"Yes. And who better for the job than someone who specialized in torture? Besides, I don't care about that hard drive anymore. It's gone. The pain you feel is the only thing I care about now." He picked up a baseball bat and smashed it down on Chloe's arm, breaking it. Chloe screamed loudly.

"Now I have you back, and you won't be rescued this time."