The sound of the explosion came through the still open comm that was on Jack Bauer's ear, followed by the sounds of distant sirens. Chloe O'Brian's fingers shook over the keyboard she had been master of only moments before as the sounds stopped her heart and drowned out every thought in her mind. Buchanan's hand on her shoulder settled her down as the seconds following it passed, comforting her and frightening her at the same time. She forced herself to think, reminded herself that the explosion didn't have to mean the worst. One sign that she couldn't do this and she couldn't be there for them, couldn't be there to help if they needed it, couldn't be the first one to hear that they were all right. She pulled the comm closer to her mouth and unclenched her jaw. "Jack? Jack? Are you okay?" She waited only a few seconds before switching the frequency, "Cassie? Cassie, come in please?"
Jack Bauer woke to a voice that brought an unsteady smile to his face but it was gone in seconds. Further disoriented by its loss, he opened his eyes into the glare of sunlight coming off the metal skin of the concert hall behind him and the sun itself overhead. However, the heat he felt was from the fire raging in the twisted metal hulk of the second CTU vehicle that had come to a halt five yards ahead of his own. With relief he spotted the four figures gathered behind the concrete planter that had sheltered Gibson. They had dragged a fifth behind the scant cover with them but he was moving feebly. Bauer sat up and turned when he heard a groggy voice behind him.
"Get the Walt Disney Concert Hall evacuated now. We have at least two officers down." She paused as Bauer sat up and sighed quickly. "Make that one. Get responders on the perimeter but do not move in, repeat - do not move in. Order the units to clear this intersection. This is a live fire situation, repeat, a live fire situation, over."
"Copy that, Detective Gibson. Good Samaritan, St. Vincent, and Pacific Alliance Medical Centers are on full alert for casualties, over."
"Understood. Mobilize SWAT to coordinate with CTU on my call and stand by."
Bauer held his breath as she finished, talking not into her CTU comm but the LAPD radio she was also carrying. He watched the three streaks of blood slip, ignored, down the side of her face. "Are you okay?"
"Just tired of busting my head open around you. What about you?"
Jack managed a half-smirk as he nodded, "Just got hit by the compression wave." He reached up and tripped his comm. "Chloe?"
There was a pause, one longer than he expected but then he could see her teeth grinding a few miles away, her lower lip flattening the upper one beneath the screwed shut eyes. "Are you okay?"
"We both are. Have you got that satellite retasked?"
O'Brian clenched her hands, the tension in them keeping her upright as the relief burned through her and stung her eyes. She could kill him later; he needed her now. "Yeah, it's clear. There's nothing on the roof of the DC Pavilion, and there's nothing going on there today. It should be empty. The design of the concert hall is too crazy, though. It's hard to read. I can't help you there but it's being evacced through the back garden. Everybody's gonna' be held until this is over."
"This is a one-way for whoever's behind this, Chloe. Tell them to get those civilians clear. Stand by."
"I'll see if I can find an archive of the interiors."
Jack moved closer to the cover of the CTU vehicle he had been in, dragging Cassie with him. "Chloe said the roof is clear over there but they need elevation to get to targets as far apart as they have accurately with an RPG."
"Which means?"
"They're in as high up as the can get in the DC Pavilion; the snipers are behind us. We don't have much time now that the streets have been emptied. They didn't have a clear field but they must not have ammo to waste or they would have targeted the vehicles again."
His dark hair plastered with sweat, Griffin eased himself closer, "Mr. Bauer, I raised Deputy Kenner. He said he's moving his people and the prisoners into the parking garage across the way. He also has charge of two civilians who were caught in the situation."
Jack nodded and looked at the structure across the street. "Let me have your radio. Is it still set to his frequency?' The younger man nodded and turned it over. "Deputy, this is Jack Bauer, CTU. I've been given provisional command."
The radio crackled for a moment before the tinny voice emerged, "I thought you were the package."
"I am… was. Things changed. Go with your plan to get your people moved to cover."
"Understood."
"What do you have in the way of casualties?"
"Two dead, two injured when they were thrown clear of the first van, including one of the prisoners. The second van was our court security team. We lost them all."
"Damn it. All right. Stay on this frequency, report to Agent Griffin if your situation changes."
"Understood."
Jack handed the radio back to the younger agent and from where they crouched behind the third SUV glanced back up at the white-columned building across the street. "Radio the other teams. Tell them to hold their positions and that I have provisional command." Griffin nodded and Jack turned back to look northwest down the now empty street. A red car was directly behind theirs, a few feet back and out in the right lane; its driver was slumped at the wheel. Two buses, thankfully empty, were behind it, obscuring their view of the fourth and last CTU vehicle. "Cass'."
The blood now a wiped smear on her forehead the woman moved up beside him. "Yeah?"
"If we get past the buses we'll be able to see what the Hell's gone on with Curtis. Once we know we'll have two objectives, getting inside the concert hall and getting inside the Pavilion."
Gibson glanced between the two buildings and back to him. "I can make it to Curtis. If we don't move soon we'll lose the confusion of the evac in the concert hall."
Bauer nodded, glancing up at the twisted arcs of metal towering above the streets. "Now we know they're in there but they won't reveal their position again until the building's empty unless it looks like we're moving out of range."
"You mean their job is to pin us down so that the one with the RPG can get as many of us as possible?"
Bauer nodded, "No evidence that way and this is a clean up. You can't get ballistics off burned bodies." He turned from the scowling woman and reached up, activating the comm. "Chloe?"
Chloe ground her teeth as she heard his voice but to herself, fighting for every calm word that left her. "Right here, Jack. What's going on?"
Bauer glanced between the two buildings then his eyes closed, "Contact the power company. Have them shut down the grid for this area and get both of these buildings dark."
"I'll get Mr. Buchanan on it." She put the rest of the pieces together as she spoke. If he wanted the buildings dark, there was a reason, one she didn't have to be a computer genius to figure out. "You're going in?"
His back against the rear tire of the SUV in which he'd been traveling, Bauer nodded, his eyes still closed, refusing to think past the next moment more than necessary, beyond what was the fastest way to end this situation. The irony that he was leading the sudden mission to stop the execution of the people who had tortured him was another thought he was keeping at bay. "I'm going to find out what's happened with Curtis first, but I'm sure he's out of play. If he is we'll clear things with him, if he's not we'll start moving as soon as they're dark."
Chloe glanced behind her, up at Bill Buchanan, who was naturally standing over her at half the distance he normally would have, watching for the first sign that Jack Bauer was unable to handle the provisional command he'd granted. She didn't smile as she met his eye; her face held no expression at all. She had no doubt he knew she was being strong for both of them, for Jack and herself, that one sign of question from her would be worse than any doubt in Bauer's own mind. Her fingers steady, her voice calm, she returned her attention to Jack as Buchanan hovered a moment more before heading to his office. She saw him pick up a red phone and hit one of the speed dials.
"Jack, we're getting an emergency power cut. I can't get a visual on Curtis and the other SUV. They're too far back from the intersection for the cameras. There'd be no point in trying the cameras at the hall and the Pavilion since we're cutting the power. What are you gonna' do?"
Jack straightened when she stopped talking, absorbing not only the information but the lifeline of simply hearing her voice. When it ended with the question, Bauer opened his eyes and took a breath to answer her, only to have the answer cut off by Gibson pointing at the street lights. "The grid's down already. They're out."
Bauer was immediately on his feet. "Move."
Gibson and Griffin bolted across the length of the red car at the order, both glancing back to see that he was on their heels, reaching the cover of the first bus and then moving to the second. They stopped at the end of it, Gibson pulling up short and dropping to the ground to slide forward the last two feet as the two men came to a halt behind her.
The sight that greeted her drew a sigh and caused her to rest her head on the sidewalk. Watching her closely, Bauer was alarmed for a half second and then saw the vestige of a smile creasing her cheek. "Cass'?"
Gibson pushed herself up and shook her head. "Curtis' vehicle slammed into Unit 4 when it turned away from the attack. I think they might all be okay for now, but Curtis is out on the ground. I guess they quit trying to move him when the sniper fire started."
Griffin looked over at the two collided CTU vehicles, then up at the steel monolith of the concert hall, judging the angle. "The buses must be in the way of the sniper. That means we should start our search at the southwest corner of the building." He brought his gaze back down to an approving half-smile on Bauer's face.
The older man's gaze sobered suddenly, however, his lips tightening when he reached up and took the comm from his ear, offering it to Marcus Griffin. "When we get across the street, have the CTU forces here move into the concert hall, isolate the southwest corner and move in."
Griffin nodded, his dark hazel eyes unwavering but suddenly unhappy. "As soon as we put an end to this, Sir, we'll get you out of here safely."
Cassie Gibson glanced down at the younger of the CTU agents and then up at Bauer, her lips drawn tight. "Damn right."
Bauer looked gratefully between the two of them before he focused on Griffin. "Wait till we get to Agent Manning, then move when we head into the Pavilion. We'll split their attention. Remind your people it's going to be dark in there."
Griffin nodded and dropped the rifle into his hands that had been hanging over his shoulder. "Yes, Sir."
"Keep your comm open and Agent O'Brian informed." Jack watched the young agent nod, dart back to the cover of the SUV, then head toward the clutch of agents still hovering around the fallen one. A dozen yards past them the first vehicle's agents were crouched down and waiting for orders. Bauer turned back and looked at Cassie Gibson, the assault rifle at rest in her hands. She suddenly thrust it toward him and Jack took it automatically, "Let's go."
They took off, running brokenly to make themselves harder to track during their brief sprint out in the open that ended with Cassie on her knees next to Manning, experienced hands assessing his injuries. Over her head, she could hear Jack briefing the others. Curtis stirred and groaned as her hand found the break in his left arm. She put a finger over his mouth and shook her head.
"We've sealed the area. Jack's with me."
Bauer turned as Manning tried to sit up and reached past Cassie to push him back. "Stay. We've got snipers not just the RPG. I've split the team and had them pull the plug on both buildings. The concert hall was evacced and the DC Pavilion is empty."
Curtis fought the hand holding him down for only a few seconds and looked between the woman and blond man kneeling over him. "Did Buchanan give you command?" Jack nodded slowly, swallowing as he looked away. It was Curtis' good hand suddenly gripping his arm that brought his eyes back to the black man's face; there he saw a thin smile as Manning let himself sink back to the pavement. "Fine. This arm isn't going to do any of us any good and everything else is still blurry." He held Bauer's gaze a moment more before his head fell to the side.
Curtis didn't react as Bauer took the comm from his ear, "Just hang on, my friend." …and placed it in his own. "Chloe, it's me I'm on Curtis' comm."
"Got you, Jack. Is he okay?'
"He'll live but we have to get him out of here. Stand by." Jack stood up, knowing they were still out of range of the snipers in the structure of the concert hall behind the cover of the buses. He pulled Cassie upright and lowered his voice out of the range of Manning's hearing as he drifted in and out of consciousness. "I'm taking the team inside the Pavilion. I'll leave one of them here. Stay with Curtis. If he regains consciousness, see if you can move him."
Gibson stared at him for another long moment they didn't have, her eyes becoming ironically hard as emerald. "Given my genetics, I doubt you'll be surprised to hear this but there's absolutely no way in Hell I'm leaving you, and not because I doubt you but first of all, I made a promise; secondly and tactically, you'll need me inside; thirdly, two men will have a much better chance of getting Curtis out of here."
Jack felt a sting of temper for the first time, his own eyes growing equally cold as he faced the detective. "This is your first mission as LAPD liaison; you're in no position to argue with me and I am giving you a direct order."
The eyes meeting his didn't waver and in them Jack Bauer got his first glimpse of a side of Gibson he knew had to exist but that she'd had no reason to show him until now. "Then order me as an officer with seven years experience hunting people in the dark; do not order me as Chloe O'Brian's sister."
Jack held her gaze a moment more before his head dropped, not with defeat but with acceptance. She was right; she had worked at night most of her career, searching the darkened Pavilion was a job for which she was uniquely qualified above any of the agents here, and strong as she was there would be no way for her to move Curtis alone. Right now, all of those things had to count more than how much he wanted to protect her. "Fine." He turned from her as she sighed and looked at the young men facing him. "You two, stay with Curtis, move him as soon as you can. The rest of you, we're getting in the Pavilion and starting an extraction sweep, four of you tac on Detective Gibson. You are under her command. Her team will break right. Three of you tac on me." Jack turned from the seven CTU agents assembling themselves and Gibson helping herself to the Curtis's weapons; he looked across the narrow stretch of roadway and found Marcus Griffin watching him, waiting for the sign to send his own forces into the Walt Disney Concert Hall. He flashed him a signal to break in fifteen seconds and turned back, his hand rising to his ear. "Chloe, we're going surgical in twelve."
"Understood, we've got more teams moving to seal the exterior," came the answer, calm, unwavering, trusting… confident. No trace of doubt came to his ear and its absence reinforced his heart. Jack Bauer's head lifted as her voice faded; he drew his sidearm and turned back, his hand raised to signal the young agent across the street, "Go!"
They broke around the side of the SUV on the street, using the few seconds of surprise their movement granted to reach the far side of West First Street. Sniper fire trailed them as they reached the grounds of the Pavilion and crossed the open concrete platform that concealed a deactivated fountain, splitting to either side of the huge building, Gibson to the right as ordered and Bauer to the left. Shots shattered the glass entryway and left a sea of glass that glittered in the shadow of the building's face, shots that betrayed the location of the snipers across the way. If Griffin was hoping to make an impression, all he had to do now was be careful.
Following the lead of a red-haired CTU agent, Cassie pulled up short at the service door on the right side of the building, aiming the rifle she'd taken as he wired a small, shaped charge into the door and biting back the comment about breaking into show business. The door exploded and swung open slowly through a small cloud of smoke. Gibson assumed that Jack's team had the same devices available to them.
With the power and presumably the backups cut off no alarm sounded. Blackness, silence and nothing else awaited them on the other side of the door, which proved to be an emergency exit. The two men on either side of her headed for the doorway instantly, held back by her immediate order to stop. All four of them turned toward her curiously and she pointed up toward the sun. "Two of you watch the door, two of you close your eyes tight for about ten seconds, then cover us going in. You won't be as disoriented."
The four men glanced at each other then nodded and complied. Eleven seconds later they were inside what appeared to be an access corridor from the main hall. Only the battery powered "EXIT" signs offered any break from the darkness. Cassie came to a stop at the head of the corridor and signaled for the rest to halt as she reached up for the comm. "Chloe, we're inside the Pavilion on the Grand Avenue side."
Chloe O'Brian ground her teeth and held back the reply she wanted to make. "Okay, Jack's team is in. We've got the areas around both buildings locked down if they get past you."
"Have a little faith, Sister Chloe. What's the general direction of "up" in here?"
Chloe glared at the diagram on the screen, the blueprints of the Pavilion they kept on file in the event of a terrorist attack there, although it was supposed to have been the target and not the origin. "Through the main hall. There's a service corridor on the left marked "Do Not Enter"."
"Well, have them change that, would you? I'll call you when we're there."
Chloe huffed back into her chair for a moment. Her insane sister was still making jokes, and she could tell by the sound of her voice that one some level she was getting off on this mess but then you probably had to to even want to do it. Damn it. Damn it. Damn it.
"Chloe, it's me."
O'Brian's heart jumped for the hundredth time in nine minutes. "Yeah, Jack?"
"We're almost at the top of the stairs."
"Okay, Cassie's team should be there on her side in about four minutes. There's a service area for the balcony that's wide open and a maintenance corridor that goes out toward the windows about two hundred yards away. That's the only cover from where you are."
"How close will the other team be from their end?"
"Three hundred yards."
"Patch me into Cassie."
Chloe paused for a moment before obeying him. He was setting up a pincer movement, one whose timing should land him and her sister in the open area at the same time. Chloe felt her hands beginning to shake again, her skin now feeling so tight that she could barely stretch to the top row of keys. Maybe she shouldn't be the one running this but the thought of not doing so made her hands shake more. "Hold on, Jack. Okay, she can hear you."
In the darkness, Jack flattened himself against the wall of the landing, his gaze focused upward. There was light there, a gray mist of it coming in through the massive glass front of the building. The three young recruits were kneeling one the stairs, on of them positioning himself directly between him and the final level. "Cassie, how long till you reach the top?"
"Hold on…. We're there now."
"There's an open area about five hundred yards from you and two hundred from us and a maintenance corridor there that sounds like it's a defensible position. Keep your comm open. Let us know when you have it in sight, and…" Bauer paused for a moment, admitting to himself finally that there was a clot of ice in his stomach. The sound of his blunt fingernails scraping the textured surface of the rifle in his hands suddenly told him how tightly he was holding it and, standing in the midst of the younger agents, he was glad of the darkness. "…Cassie, be careful."
Crouched just below the top level of the stairs, rifle braced in her hands, Gibson felt nothing but the dry ache of her throat. If something happened now, her sister would hear it and God knew what would happen to Bauer. This was a whole new level of careful. She could see something moving in the half-light above them now, drifting back and forth in one spot. If there was any doubt they were on the right level, it was gone. "Jack, hold your position. We've got a hell of a lot more ground to cover." She turned back to the four men with her and put a finger to her lips before waving them forward. On point with the nearest one, she eased silently over the lip of the stairs.
Several yards down the corridor, in the dim light that now had begun to relieve the darkness, three bodies hung from an exposed support beam, all wearing what she assumed where the security uniforms of the guards here. Two of them were no older than the CTU recruits. Gibson bit back a curse and waved her troop to stop, knowing that whoever had left the bodies might be waiting for an opportunity provided by the shock. She looked sharply at each of the wide-eyed recruits, shaking her head, waved them out to either side of the corridor, taking a position with the two along the right wall as they moved silently forward.
Jack saw the muzzle flash in the same instant he heard the first round of fire, dropping to the ground and returning it in to the anonymous darkness, knowing the other CTU team was still too far away to have been the source. Whoever they were after was fishing blindly for a target and by sheer luck found one. To his right one of the agents who had been accompanying him fell, dropping so close to the stairs that he slid down three of them before catching himself with a groan. In the darkness ahead, there were two distinct muzzle flashes, coming from subguns set to three-round bursts that swept the corridor in the direction of the stairs, their thundering sound punctuated by a short-lived scream from the opposite direction.
Cassie Gibson shouted a warning as the two young men on the far side of the hallway surged toward the gunfire and flashes punctuating the dark fog. Dust from the fired upon walls now drifted in the air and depleted their visibility even more. Grimacing, she watched the young man who had been leading the charge hit the ground as he bolted past the opening of a small side corridor. He was dead already, she could tell from the final sound she heard from his direction but there had been no sound otherwise, no report of a gun above the more distant bursts being fired ahead. The man who had been just behind him fell in his attempt to stop. Gibson and the other two CTU agents began firing as he went down, falling out of the field of fire, driving down the other agent's killer in a hail of bullets. Entering the proper range as they ran forward, their next shots went in the direction of the muzzle flashes ahead.
A strange silence settled over the darkened, dust-filled corridor as the two gunmen retreated further back into the maintenance corridor, ended in seconds by the gruff sound of Jack Bauer's voice. "Spread out! Get one man each at the ends of this corridor. We've got them isolated."
Cassie dropped to one knee as he came in sight, the assault rifle aimed down the now empty shaft that lead out toward the huge front window, knowing damn well he didn't intend for her to go guard a stairway. "Jack, is there any point giving these guys some options?"
Jack dropped down beside her, watching the remaining five youths obey his order, two of them vanishing into the dimness on either side of the scene. "No, our best chance to rush them now while they're regrouping."
Gibson nodded and waved one of the agents over who had accompanied her down the corridor. "Go back to where Ferguson's body is. Hold that corridor."
Jack looked up as she spoke to him. "Wait. There's another corridor?"
"A hundred yards or so back the way we came, Sir."
Cassie, in turn, looked at Bauer. "You have an idea?"
Bauer didn't answer but continued talking to the man. "Taylor, once you get there, I want you to give it two minutes and then start firing . Move down the hall if they don't fire back. Twenty seconds in parse your shots then hold your fire. Hernandez, go with him. After you stop firing, retreat and back out of the corridor completely. Don't let anyone down it."
"Yes, Sir." Bauer was looking at Gibson stonily when she turned from the young men's departure. 'You lost one?"
Cassie nodded. "Cut his throat by the sound of it. You're down one, too?"
"He's alive for now."
"That leaves you and me and… what's the other kid's name?"
"Quentin; he'll be our cover."
"Quentin." Gibson nodded and lowered her head, watching him out of the corner of her eye. "Jack, what about us?"
He nodded quickly and stood. "Ten seconds after Taylor and Hernandez start firing, move."
Chloe sat back as she heard Bauer speak, feeling the blood drain from her face but keeping silent. She had been at this too long. She could see the whole thing in her mind's eye and she jumped when Buchanan briefly touched her shoulder. "What's going on?"
O'Brian tabbed the mute key. "My sister and Jack are about close in on the people in the Pavilion. They're down two agents, one injured, one dead. They're doing a pincer to flush out the people who attacked the convoy."
"Chloe, if you want…".
"I'm fine! Sir. I mean my sister's one thing but nobody's running comms on Jack but me. Nobody."
Buchanan looked at the back of her head a moment more and relented. Anyone else he would have pulled but she was right, Bauer needed her and together they were still likely CTU's best chance of getting hold of this situation even under such complex circumstances. "We've got a support team assembled, Chloe, but...".
"Yes, Sir. It's too late. I already knew that." Chloe took her finger off the mute button and resumed her wait.
Gibson came back to her feet, setting her own weapon for three round bursts and taking it down from her shoulder. She tucked it under her arm to keep her view as clear as possible. The goal of firing was not precision but fire to herd their quarry in the right direction. She looked over to see Bauer adapting a similar grip on his own rifle while Quentin kept his own raised high between their shoulders.
Jack nodded toward the maintenance corridor and they moved toward the mouth of it in the dust and dim light, Gibson moving slightly faster when she picked up the sound of voices. She put a hand on Bauer's arm and held up four fingers. Jack frowned an acknowledgement, taking his eyes off the corridor long enough to glance at her. The moment his gaze returned to the opening, the muffled sound of gunfire came from the corridor where Agent Ferguson's body now lay.
Ten seconds after the shots sounded, Bauer, Gibson, and Quentin began to move, the first two shooting steadily to create a wall of live fire on each side of the area where they suspected the remaining attackers to be. Unopposed, they moved down the narrow passage, starting to choke on the dust of punctured dry wall. Cassie stopped a few feet later when she felt Bauer's hand on her arm in the darkness. They paused firing momentarily, enough to hear the now sporadic fire of Hernandez and Taylor parsing out their shots. Jack pointed to the wall at the end of the short, dust-filled hallway and then dropped his finger downward.
Gibson traded her rifle for her .45 and moved silently down the wall, her back pressed against it. A foot from the end, she stopped and slid down nearly to the floor, tensing as Bauer and Quentin fired over her head. When they drew even with her, the three of them moved, making the last turn and finding what they hoped. The light coming from the glass front of the Pavilion was much brighter here, showing them the backs of three young Asian men, dressed in jeans and T-shirts but armed, easing their way toward the corridor where the firing had stopped.
The fourth, however, was waiting for them just as they turned, his pistol less than a foot from Bauer's face when they did. It was gone before Jack had time to react, the gunman's wrists firmly in the grip of Gibson as she snapped up from the floor and drove her opponent against the wall. The instant he struck it, she dropped to the floor and pulled him over her head to impact heavily with the ground behind her. Gibson rolled back on top of him in nearly the same motion, her knee landing squarely on his chest and a final burst of air escaping him before he fell unconscious. It was over almost before it started.
Bauer and Quentin stepped past them as Gibson cuffed him, their weapons still raised, intent on the remaining three. All were now facing the two CTU agents, reaching for weapons once again. On the ground between them lay the RPG launcher and a handful of shells. Bauer raised the rifle back to his shoulder, his aim moving back and forth between the three men, "Federal agent! Don't move! Lower your weapons." He watched slightly surprised as the long-haired man in the lead complied, coming to a halt and lowering his hands. His companions were staring at him with angry expressions of betrayal, the one to his right suddenly aiming his weapon at his former comrade.
Jack fired as the weapon changed targets and gave him a clearer shot.
Another shot, however, sounded at the same time, fired by the man who had been "surrendering", his downturned weapon aimed at the nearest of the RPG shell. The blast blew out several of the windows in the glass front of the Pavilion and knocked all of them to the floor. Prepared however, the man who had fired came to his feet first and dragged his two comrades with him.
Bauer picked himself up with a bit of grudging respect despite the fact he was still flashblind. Behind him, not directly exposed to the blast, Gibson was standing and firing over his head into the new haze of dust but in the direction of three figures that were disappearing. She stopped as Bauer and Quentin picked themselves up and the three of them ran forward onto the display gangway over the lobby area, just behind the windows that comprised the massive front of the building.
Jack got hold the last of them as he fled toward the hallway Taylor and Hernandez were now holding. He swung the bald man around delivered three blows before his would be opponent had raised his weapon again. Next to him Quentin had engaged the long-haired man who had fired on the small explosive. The agent had managed to disarm him but the Asian man was meeting him blow for blow as they struggled.
Jack blocked the low swing to his gut and caught the thick arm delivering it, using the momentum to pull the heavier man forward and then kick his legs out from under him. He hit the floor on one knee and yelled out at the joint broke. Not trusting the pain to keep him inoperable, Jack caught him across the temple with an elbow, driving his head against the metal railing and sending him sprawling to the hard decking.
Bauer turned to help the others just in time to see Agent Quentin drop bonelessly to floor, his neck at an inhuman angle.
He was on top of the younger man's killer before the body had made it completely to the ground, delivering a blow to the long-haired man that splattered blood onto the wall. Astride the man's chest as he fell, Bauer drew back for another and had a flashview of Cassie Gibson facing the last of the would-be assassins as he dove toward her, hunched low as if intending to force her off the balcony and over the railing. Bauer saw the gleam just as he moved past.
"Cassie! Knife!" He had time to yell nothing more as his own opponent's fist caught him across the ribs. Bauer lashed out before the pain even registered, his right fist backhanding the long-haired man as he turned to try and push Bauer off of him. The attempt to rise did more damage than the blow, putting his nose directly in the path of Bauer's hand as he turned and driving the bone straight up into his brain as it broke.
Jack looked up from the dead man beneath his bloodied fist for only a moment then jumped to his feet, ready to help Gibson, his gun returning to his hand. A split second's observation however, let him know that there was no way he could safely fire and be sure not to strike the woman. Both she and her opponent were moving too fast to track as they traded blows. He scowled when he saw that Gibson was unable as yet to fight where she was most comfortable; with the knife in play she had to keep the short but wiry man close.
His heart pounding, Jack realized the best thing he could do was stay clear. His presence would be a distraction that Gibson didn't need. She caught his eye for an instant, the only amount of time she needed, however, to warn him off on her own. …and long enough to let Bauer know that she was toying with her opponent, was his better, and for her own reasons was drawing the battle out.
She got what she needed several long seconds later then found an opening to drive her right elbow into her opponent's throat and send him reeling back, back far enough that she could regain the distance that was her usual ally. She spun away from him, her raised leg snapping out at the last moment, and her right heel connecting with his temple with a crack. He staggered and made a final leap forward that let her get hold of his knifehand and side step him, twisting it beneath and under him as he made one last dazed attempt to drive it into her heart.
For a numb yet terrifying moment, Jack Bauer thought that the knife had met its intended target so pained was the expression on Gibson's face. With crippling relief he realized the pain was pure revulsion as she straightened from her final position and the body fell to the floor. Her hands were completely red with blood and she stood for a long moment, those hands trembling before her as she stood undecided if she should wipe it off on her own clothing or let it drip. In contrast her own face was pale as she dragged in each lungful of air. With no need for it now, Jack quickly removed his vest and stripped off his shirt, using it to wipe her hands and then pulling her away from the railing before the thinning dust let her realize how far up they were as well.
"Cassie?"
Gibson looked up when he called her name and swallowed, coughing on the dust now visible as tiny motes in the light coming through the front of the building. "I'm okay. I just… this isn't why I became a cop. This…," She held onto his hands for a long moment and calmed herself. "I'm sorry. I've just never killed someone… like that. I didn't even know he was armed until you told me. I should have… Damn." She took another deep breath and returned his grip again, about to speak when a tiny, frightened voice sounded in both their ears.
"Sis? Jack?"
Gibson reached up and pressed the comm to her ear as if a switch had been thrown in her head; she was distantly amazed that the device had stayed with her. "He's fine," she answered, forgetting temporarily that Chloe was addressing them both. "Uh… we're fine but we've lost two of these guys and we've got a third man down."
Chloe O'Brian wiped the tears from her face with quick swipes and forced her nerves to settle for one last time. "Teams are on the way in. Get the hell back here." She pulled the comm from her ear and stood up, barely noticing Sophie as the other analyst helped her into the restroom and held her head as she leaned over the sink.
Agents Taylor and Hernandez arrived at a run down the corridor they had been holding, staring at the carnage that now covered the floor, looking up at the shattered windows of the front of the Pavilion and the one perfectly square opening where the glass had been removed to allow the RPG to be fired. They stopped short of the man and the woman leaning against the back wall and shouldered their weapons, Hernandez retrieving Bauer's vest from the floor. "We were holding the corridor and heard the explosion. This all happened that fast?"
Shrugging the vest back on over his dark undershirt, Jack nodded. "We've got medical and recovery teams moving in. Make sure that they know there are still live shells in here. Only one of them exploded. I'm getting Detective Gibson out of here."
"Yes, Sir."
Jack nodded and took Gibson's elbow. She was quiet as he steered her back in the direction they had come and then outside. This time they went out the front doors of the Pavilion, crunching their way across a sea of broken glass that had been created by the snipers who had tracked them in here and the RPG that had exploded several stories above them. Out in the street it was obvious the stand-off had ended. Emergency vehicles were clogging the boulevards; sirens filled the air and medical responders were as common as those who were armed. Now free to move, the helicopter had landed in the street. Gibson turned to look up at the shattered windows of the Pavilion as they came out of its shadow and then pulled her phone free of one the pockets of her borrowed CTU fatigues. "Hell of a twenty minutes, Jack."
He stopped when they reached the curb, staring out across the wide boulevard and scanning for one person amongst the nearly 100 securing the area and removing the dead and wounded. He spotted Griffin as he supervised the herding of the suspects they had also captured into the back of a van in shackles. Griffin muttered something to the agent beside him and ran over to join them. "We got three out of five of them, Sir. Near as we can figure they came in with a tour group last night and hid themselves in the building. They had blue-prints and standard Heckler and Koch firearms. One thing odd is that they all seem to be in one family."
"We'll figure out who they are soon enough," Gibson answered. "We got two of our own still alive. Any word on Curtis Manning?"
"CTU Medical picked him up first."
Gibson nodded, "Thanks, Marcus."
The young agent looked between the haggard-looking man and woman, worried but opting to keep quiet. "I'm needed back for debrief about the Concert Hall. See you at HQ."
Jack met the younger man's eyes solidly. "Good job, Mr. Griffin. Congratulations."
"Thank you, Sir." With that the young agent was gone, darting back across the street. Bauer turned from him to cast a worried look at Gibson but she was already watching him carefully as well, her eyes no longer glazed with shock. "I'm pulling my new rank. Let's get you out of here." Bauer nodded but held on to the tension still gripping him. He needed it until they were away, until he was out of sight of everyone. Gibson this time steered him toward a black-and-white parked a dozen yards off, its officer speaking into the radio. She leaned in and spoke to him and Jack watched with dull gratitude as she accepted the keys and opened the doors then touched her comm. "Sis, we're on our way in."
"Uh, Detective, this is Agent Sophie MacKinnon. I'll give Chloe a heads up."
"Sorry, thanks."
xxxxxx
Audrey Raines scanned the mission reports coming in around her, from a dozen screens where CTU Medical, LAPD, Homeland Security, and the three hospitals were gathering data and sharing distribution information. The DOD had little to do but monitor the situation now. She pushed her chair back and stared at the aftermath of the mayhem, violence, and chaos, at the control being forced upon it, at the people who faced it with calm, at the world Jack had found himself immersed in once again. He had been thrust into it after the traumas he'd experienced, shut some part of himself down, risen to it and taken command of it, unable to stop himself. It was a world that at some point would consume him again. Nothing she could offer him would protect him from being drawn in, even his love for Kim and certainly not what she had thought was his love for her. Audrey Raines secured her currently useless station and stood up, her eyes scanning the operations center until she spotted Chloe O'Brian standing next to the door to the main corridor. The analyst turned as Raines closed on her, not meeting her eyes for a moment.
"Jack's okay."
"Good, thank you." Audrey took a quick, uncomfortable breath in the pause that followed then looked up again. "Your sister?"
"She's fine. She killed somebody though. I think it was kinda' gross."
Audrey nodded and looked away again. "Tell Jack I'm glad he's okay."
Chloe stared at the other blond woman for a long moment, realization and suspicion creeping into her awareness. Her eyes narrowed sharply. "Where are you going?"
"To apologize to Kim. I'm sure Jack will tell you why if he hasn't already."
Chloe stared across the operations center for several moments after Audrey was gone, forgetting her immediately when she saw two familiar figures approaching her. Cassie broke into a run the instant their eyes met, bolting away from Bauer and scooping her sister up in her arms, her bloodied hands forgotten. She lifted Chloe off the floor by several inches and her held her before dropping her back down. Cassie kissed her sister's cheek as she hit the ground and then gripped her elbows firmly as she started to retreat, her voice a tight whisper as she lingered near her ear. "I know what you've always meant about him now."
Chloe looked up as Cassie stepped back, pretending she'd heard nothing. "They need you in Debrief."
"Any of those bastards in a condition to talk?"
"Three should be when they get here."
Gibson looked between Bauer and her sister and she stepped back from the latter completely. "Is Curtis still out of it?"
"Yeah, I think so."
"Then I'll stop by Debrief and tell them I'm going down to Interrogation first." With a final slap on Bauer's arm, Gibson was gone, heading in the direction of Debrief, not even bothering to wash her hands first.
Neither Chloe or Jack moved for a long moment but as soon as Bauer's hand lifted in her direction, the woman closed the distance between them, their lips seeking one another's fiercely, Chloe grunting in frustration as she felt the bullet-proof vest between them. It took them both a moment to recall where they were and move apart, a fierce blush darkening O'Brian's face despite her grimaced smile. "I'm glad you're okay."
"I could tell." He smiled thinly but she could see the pain still on him, the effect of the wake of death that would now take even longer to fade. She moved closer to him again, this time taking his hand.
"They want you in Debrief, too, but Dr. Colson said he wants to see you first."
Jack Bauer sighed and looked across the buzzing operations center, pulling her with him as he retreated farther into the corridor, away from the dozens of eyes that were stealing furtive glances at them despite the heated activity now continuing in the aftermath of the attack. When they were out of sight, he pulled her close again, drinking in the scent of her hair, remembering what it had felt like to awaken completely safe in her arms. "To Hell with Colson, right now I need you."
Chloe felt her heart pounding once more, this time with a feeling she welcomed instead of dreaded, tears falling from her eyes as she kissed him again. She had thought this moment impossible until now, even as he'd slept in her arms, even as he cried, even as she'd known he was stumbling to her through the darkened streets of Los Angeles. Weird Chloe. Rude Chloe. Bitch Chloe…. Never Would Be Good Enough for Jack Bauer Chloe. Their friendship was circumstance but more than that it was acceptance, it was trust, and it was inescapably, always, no matter how hard to face, truth.
Chloe backed up when the kiss broke and his head lifted from her shoulder, flushed, almost fevered, his breath loud to her ears. His eyes, however, were calm and intense as they lasered in on her own, never flinching, never looking away, already knowing her reply when she finally spoke, "Good, because I need you, too."
