CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Hour Fourteen

6:00-7:00

Danni awoke first. She felt like she'd been thrown off a building. Then she remembered; she had. One side of her face was scratched and all of her bones ached. She moved her legs and arms slightly and felt harsh pangs in her muscles; but nothing felt broken; she could still move. She lifted her head; it felt like it weighed a ton. The sun was almost completely up now. Danni rolled onto her back and looked up at the window she'd been thrown from with Jack.

Jack.

He'd been thrown, too.

Turning her head; Danni saw a heap of something laying on its side and wearing Jack's clothes. "Jack." She realized, pushing herself up onto her knees. She didn't feel strong enough to get to her feet so she just crawled over to him. "Jack?" She reached him and shook his shoulder. "Jack!" She was relieved when he immediately started waking up. "Hey; you ok?" She held a hand to a bleeding cut on his head and helped him sit up.

Jack felt like he'd been hit by a truck; he glanced at his watch and saw that it had shattered in the fall and read 5:59; the time that they'd been pushed out the window. "How long was I out?" he asked Danni.

"It's almost 6:15." Danni told him as she checked her own watch that had survived the descent.

"We gotta get back to CTU." Jack said as he got to his feet; relieved he hadn't seriously hurt himself this time.

"What's the hurry?" Danni asked; realizing as she tried to get up that she had injured her ankle. "Ow, ow!" She hopped up and down on her good foot.

Jack took both of her hands and helped her to her feet; making her lean her weight on him and not on her sore ankle. "The President's due to give his speech at eight."

"But we disarmed the bomb." Danni reminded him as they limped away. "And Maliqe just blew himself away."

"There's always a back up." Jack told her. "Maliqe wanted the President gone; he'd have something planned; just like he did at the marina." Jack told her; remembering all too clearly how Danni almost drowned earlier that morning. As Jack helped Danni down the fire escape; they were met halfway by a handful of CTU agents. "Get me Buchannon on the phone." He ordered to one of them.

Another agent took over helping Danni downstairs. She took it as a good sign that they didn't immediately put her in handcuffs. "What happens now?" she asked Jack.

"We'll go back to CTU and your pardon will be signed." Jack told her as he waited on hold for Bill.

"I can go?" It sounded too good to be true for Danni.

"The orders were once you completed your task with us; helped us find Maliqe and the bomb, your pardon would be signed and you'd be free to go." Jack reminded her. "You completed your task; we don't need you anymore."

She gave Jack a confused look. "Thank you." She could tell from the way he looked at her that what had happened in the hotel room a couple of hours before was going to remain a memory.

xxx

Sylvia watched Billy closely as he colored a picture for his mother. She had managed to distract him from asking questions about "Mummy" and "Agent Jack" by convincing him that they'd both like to see him draw a picture for them. She was still so confused. Her son Mark, Billy's father, had been murdered only a few hours before. She hadn't even had a chance to process that information. When she'd received the call from Bill Buchannon, he'd told her that her song was gone, Danielle was associated with terrorists and her grandson needed to be picked up in pretty much the same sentence

"Gamma; look." Billy was calling to her waving his picture in front of her eyes.

"Oh; that's wonderful darling." Sylvia stroked his hair and glanced at his drawing. "Tell me about it."

"That's Mama." Billy pointed to a pink circle with a smiley face on it. "And that's Daddy." He pointed to a black circle. And Agent Jack, see?" He pointed to a gray square that he'd colored in next to 'Jack'. "That Agent Jack's badge. He let me hold it."

"Did he?" Sylvia said absentmindedly.

"Yeah." Billy finished coloring in and sighed. "I hungry, Gamma."

"Me too." Sylvia smoothed his hair behind his ear. "Maybe we can go home soon; I'll cook you breakfast, would you like that?"

"Uh-huh." Billy nodded as he gathered up all his pictures.

There was a knock at the door and the two of them were joined by Bill Buchannon. "Mrs. Harris?"

"Any word on Danielle?" Sylvia asked as she got to her feet and took Billy's hand.

"She's ok." Bill assured her. "She's with our agents; she should be back soon."

"So we can go home?" Sylvia asked hopefully as Billy yawned hugely.

"Yes." Bill confirmed. "Would you prefer to leave now? I can have an officer escort you home."

Sylvia looked down as Billy rubbed his eyes and yawned again. "I think that would be best. Would you tell Danielle that we're at my home?"

"Of course." Bill agreed.

"What about those men who came for Billy earlier?" Sylvia tried to speak calmly so as not to alert her grandson. "What if they find us?"

"We'll have some agents stay with you for your protection." Bill assured here. "You ready to go, champ?" He asked the little boy.

"Yes!" Bill grabbed his drawings securely under his arm as his grandmother scooped him up off his feet and carried him on her hip.

"Billy; you thank Mr. Buchannon." Sylvia told him.

"Please; call me Bill." He smiled.

"Your name is my name." Billy told him with a toothy grin. "We the same."

"I guess we are." Bill was forced to smile back. "This is Agent Miller; he'll escort you home."

"Thank you." Sylvia said gratefully. "Thank you so much."

"Take care." Bill held the door aside for the two of them as the descended down the staircase.

"Mr. Buchannon?" Chloe called to him from the bottom of the stairs, as she waved a stiff goodbye to Billy who was grinning at her. "President Palmer is on the line for you."

xxx

"And you're sure?" Jack asked Agent Daniels for the third time.

"Yes." He nodded to Jack. "There are no other bombs in the building; nothing could have survived that blast. I lost five agents in there."

"I am sorry for the loss of your men." Jack told him honestly. "I am. But we can't stop now; we need to keep going. This wasn't the end. Their target was the President; there's no chance they've forgone that in lieu of blowing up a handful of agents."

"Our agents are already tailing the President's motorcade, we have experts searching the building where President Palmer is set to give his speech." Agent Daniels' cell phone started to ring. "Whatever they're doing; we'll figure it out. Excuse me." He stepped away from Jack and took his call.

Jack glanced at his watch; it was now 6:40; President Palmer was set to deliver his speech at eight. They needed to have this under control well before then. Danni was still Jack's best and only lead. She was receiving medical treatment in an ambulance along with some of the wounded agents. She was having her ankle strapped when Jack arrived. "Is she alright?" he asked the paramedic.

"Bad twist; but not even broken." The paramedic replied. "She was lucky. As were you, Agent Bauer. A fall from that height? I'd like to examine you for concussion as well as internal injuries."

"I'm fine." Jack assured him; although the bullet wound in his shoulder chose that moment to start stinging like hell.

"You are such a baby." Danni told him before turning to the medic. "If you want him to do something; you have to make him think it was his idea or he won't do it."

Jack glanced at her, not happy with her judge of his character, and proceeded to take off his shirt. "I was shot a few hours ago; I had a hit of Lidocaine at about two."

"I'll give you another injection." The medic told Jack as he finished up Danni's ankle. "You're good here; don't put too much strain on it." He added as she swapped places with Jack and filled a syringe with Lidocaine.

"You're proving my point, y'know?" Danni teased Jack as she gingerly testing her ankle.

"Danni; we need you to think." Jack told her seriously. "Maliqe's back up plan."

"Jack; how many times do I have to tell you he didn't keep me informed?" Danni told him. "He was the top of the ladder; everyone answered to him. And now he's in a million pieces somewhere in there." She gestured to the still smoking rubble of the building nearby. "My next point of call would be Rahjid; but he's with your people." She shrugged. "I really don't know."

Jack winced as the medic injected his shoulder. "What was protocol if you couldn't get to Maliqe?"

Danni shook her head. "Micah and I were pretty much on our own; we weren't told."

"Danni; think!" Jack demanded as he shrugged his shirt back on. "What were you supposed to do if Maliqe died?"

Danni exhaled loudly and thought back as far as she could. She hadn't been involved in any big missions or anything with Al Haeq; her work with the computer chip was as far out of the circle as she could get. Half the time she didn't know what she was working on. It was only this past year when she started getting calls from Maliqe that she heard hints and whispers of what the plans were. But she'd heard so many different plans, half of which never eventuated into anything, how was she supposed to find the answer? Then, as sudden as déjà vu, she remembered. "Oh God." She said. "I remember. If Maliqe died; the orders were to drop everything. That was it; we were done. Go out with a bang." She remembered that phrase. "Go out with a bang." She repeated quietly.

"Go out with a bang?" Jack echoed. "What the hell does that mean?"

"It was like a mantra to however many members of Al Haeq remained," Danni informed him. "To do as much damage as you can as fast as you can." she said fearfully. "Jack; the target isn't the President anymore. It's Los Angeles."

xxx