Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
Chapter 36
"Come on, pick up the phone" Chloe snapped as she waited for an answer, drumming her fingers impatiently.
"Alpha-4" her contact finally answered.
About time. "What took you so long?"
"Well, for one, I'm not just sitting around waiting for your call, Delta-5. I have this entire project to run. Besides, I answered, didn't I? Now, what do you have for me? And please tell me it's ready."
Chloe scowled at his tone. "The prototype is finished, sir. All I need to do is test it out. But I need your official consent first."
"Were there any problems with the binary chip?"
"A few bugs. Nothing I couldn't handle" Chloe said smugly.
"Okay, then. I'll have the documentation drawn up and sent to you. Once you get it, you have permission to test out your prototype. Just be careful. I want you to be absolutely sure that anything you put in there won't cause any damage, if this doesn't work." He sighed. "Since it seems you're almost finished, I'm giving your group 2 days leave, starting tomorrow. Now, it's late. Secure that prototype, then get some rest. That's an order."
"Yes, sir. Delta-5, out." Chloe disconnected the call, then shut down her station and secured the prototype in her locker, locking it firmly, then headed down to the dormitory to get some rest. Morris caught up with her as she reached the dorm. "Hello, Chloe."
"Hi, Morris."
"How are you doing?" Morris asked. "You've been working so hard lately, I haven't had much chance to see you around."
"I know. But my hard work is about to pay off. I've finished my prototype, and the boss has given his consent for me to try it out soon. He gave our group 2 days leave, starting tomorrow." She rolled her head, cracking her neck audibly. "I'm looking forward to it, that's for sure. But... at the same time, I'm not really looking forward to going back to CTU, once this project is over."
Morris looked at her with concern. "Why not? Is there a problem?"
Chloe hesitated, mindful of how much she should share with someone she barely knew. I guess it couldn't hurt confiding in him. From what little I know of this guy, he seems to like me. I think I can trust him. "Yeah, you could say that. The problem is the director, Peter Michaels. He's a royal jerk. Not to mention a slave driver. He seems to think that working 12-13 hour shifts every day for months at a time is a cakewalk. He insists on following total military protocol. Morris, CTU might be a military organization, but I just think it's completely ridiculous that we have to stand at attention when he summons us to his office, or salute him and our other superiors when they come into the office. That's why I agreed to work on this project- to get away from him for a while. Never mind that he would have fired me had I refused. Yeah, we've been working long hours here, but at least we don't have to deal with slave drivers like Michaels. Honestly, Morris, if I didn't have a friend back at CTU, I'd put in a request to transfer."
Morris merely looked at her, and cautiously put his hand on her shoulder tenderly. Chloe found herself comforted by his gesture, and smiled briefly.
"Don't let him get to you, Chloe. No matter what he does. You are too good a person to let him put you down like that." He gave her a reassuring smile, then let go of her. "Listen, since our group is on leave for a couple days, how about letting me take you to dinner tomorrow night? It'll be completely on me. I know this place a few miles from here that is just perfect."
I don't know if this is such a good idea. That would be mixing business with pleasure, and that usually leads to trouble. But I guess one dinner couldn't hurt. "All right. Since you're paying, I accept."
Morris grinned. "Marvelous. I'll pick you up tomorrow night at 6:30. It's not a fancy place, so you can dress casual." He turned to leave, then stopped. "It just occurred to me, Chloe. I don't know where you live."
Chloe shook her head in amusement, then gave Morris her address. He left to go back to work, and she crashed on her bunk, falling asleep almost instantly.
2424242424
"Excuse me" a voice behind Chloe said, causing her to jump slightly.
"Yeah?" she replied grumpily.
"You Delta-5?"
"Yes, I am."
The courier reached into his bag and pulled out a sheaf of papers, handing them to her. She took the papers, then signed the form to accept them. Finally. It's been 3 days. She read the documentation thoroughly, making sure that she didn't miss anything important, then placed them in her file and got right to work. She quickly tapped into the DC archives and found the files Michaels had bookmarked for her. Well, it seems that he's not a complete ass after all.
Chloe hooked the prototype up to her system and downloaded the bookmarked files, waiting patiently for the process to finish. I've been working for months on this. A few more minutes isn't going to matter. Once the last of the files was successfully downloaded, Chloe unhooked the prototype and left the main floor, heading towards her private station to test it out. She booted up the prototype quickly, and ran a systems check, smirking when she got an all-clear signal. So far, so good. Now, here comes the hard part. She punched in her passcode, placing her palm on the print reader to verify her ID. "Access granted"
Chloe was barely able to contain her excitement. I think it works. Now, one last step. then I'll call Morris to give it the final test. She boredly clicked on the first file, not really interested in what crap Michaels had given her, but she needed to be able to get into files she would need for real. Her excitement left quickly as she found herself looking at detailed specs of a missile system. What the hell is this? How did this get into the archives? She closed the file quickly, and opened up another file, her shock growing as she saw a thorough listing of undercover agents working in the Middle East. Oh, crap. What the hell have I just done? I have to tell the boss, now.
Chloe shut down the hard drive and quickly tapped her comm unit, dialing a familiar number. "Alpha-4."
"Sir, it's Delta-5."
"What is it, Delta-5? Was your test successful?"
Chloe briefly paused, then exhaled silently. "Yes, sir, it was, but we have a serious problem. I need to see you in person. Now."
"Is this important?" he asked patiently.
"Sir, I wouldn't ask if it wasn't" Chloe replied.
The line went silent for a few moments. Chloe nervously waited for him to respond. "Fine" he finally said. "Come to Division. Ask for Stuart Reilly. And make sure you identify yourself by your real name."
"Yes, sir. I'll be there in 20 minutes." Chloe disconnected the call, then hastily grabbed her prototype and jacket, leaving the compound and driving the few miles to Division, her mind racing. This is definitely not a good thing. I hope nothing bad happens to me.
Chloe pulled into the parking lot outside Division HQ and walked the short distance to the front door, going inside and right up to the guard. "Can I help you?" the guard said.
Chloe handed over her credentials. "Yeah, I'm here to see Stuart Reilly. The name's Chloe Anderson."
The guard turned to her computer and began typing, looking up at Chloe a couple of minutes later and handed her back her credentials. "Mr. Reilly is expecting you, Ms. Anderson. His office is on the 10th floor. You can go on ahead."
"Thanks." Chloe hurriedly made her way to the 10th floor, and Reilly's office, knocking timidly on his door. "Come in" Reilly said loudly. Chloe walked in and shut the door behind her. "Mr. Reilly, I'm Chloe Anderson."
Reilly gazed at her for a long minute. "I know who you are, Ms. Anderson" he said patiently. "You said you had an urgent matter that you needed to speak with me about. What is it?"
Chloe held up the hard drive. "It's about this, sir."
"Your prototype? You said it worked."
"It does, at least the part where I can get into it. That's what the problem is." She looked around. "Do you have a laptop I can use, sir?"
Reilly pulled his laptop out of his briefcase, turning it on. Chloe quickly grabbed it, hooking it up to her prototype, and clicked on the first file, while explaining what had happened, leaving out how she obtained the files. Reilly sat back, absorbing everything Chloe had told him. "So once you found out what you were dealing with, you contacted me?"
"Yes, sir."
"And you didn't dig deeper?"
"No, sir" Chloe replied. "Believe me, I have no interest in what's on this hard drive."
Reilly merely nodded, then picked up his phone. "Could you send security to my office immediately?"
Security? "Sir, what's going on?"
"Despite your intentions, Ms. Anderson, you just admitted to being in possession of sensitive intelligence that exceeds your clearance level. That is a serious offense." Reilly looked up as 4 guards came to his office. "Take Ms. Anderson into custody and escort her to a Holding cell immediately."
"Yes, sir." The guards cuffed Chloe and lead her down to the basement level, unlocking her cuffs and tossing her into a small cell. Chloe stood in silence for a few minutes, then wearily sank down on the small bed that had been provided. I'm in BIG trouble this time. I have to get out of this, somehow.
2424242424
"On your feet!" the surly guard called out to Chloe a few hours later. She jerked out of slumber and meekly stood up, allowing the guards to cuff her and lead her to an interrogation room, where she was secured to a chair and left to wait. She didn't wait long as Reilly came in and sat down across from her, gazing at her intensely. Chloe squirmed a bit, refusing to look him in the eye.
"Look at me, Ms. Anderson" Reilly commanded softly, and Chloe looked up at him fearfully. He pulled a small recorder out of his briefcase. "I want you to give me a statement concerning what happened. Tell me exactly what you told me before."
Chloe took a deep breath, then began to speak, telling him in detail what happened. Once again, she left out Michaels' involvement. It's better if I take the hit. She finished her statement, then put her head down in disgrace. I'm a traitor. I'm going to spend the rest of my life behind bars, if I'm lucky.
"There's something that I don't get, Ms. Anderson" Reilly said. "You stated that you got the files from CTU's archives, correct?"
"Yes, sir" Chloe replied, refusing to look at him.
"Unless I'm very much mistaken, highly classified intelligence, such as what you showed me, doesn't normally just end up on the archives. Someone had to put it there. You don't have the clearance to access that information." Reilly paused. "And I've read your file extensively, both when I selected you for my project, and just now, before I came to talk to you. You don't strike me as the type of person who would hack into top secret databases to get information, then turn yourself in right away. Who put those files in the archives for you?"
Chloe still looked down. I can't. I'm not going to give up my boss.
"Ms. Anderson, do you have even the slightest idea of how much trouble you're in right now? You could end up in prison for the rest of your life if you don't cooperate with me. But if you tell me who gave you those files, I will do whatever I can to help you. I know how dedicated you are to your job. I've seen the endless commendations from your superiors about what a good job you've done for CTU." Reilly stood up. "You have a choice, Ms. Anderson. You can talk, and still have a career, or you can stay silent, and lose everything. You decide."
This sucks. But... I know what I have to do. Chloe finally looked up, meeting Reilly's stony gaze. "Michaels."
"What?"
"It was Director Michaels, sir. I asked him to give me some files for use. I specifically told him to make them harmless data, so no one would get hurt if my prototype didn't work. I didn't tell him what they were for, and I can't tell you why he would do this, sir."
Reilly looked at her skeptically. "I've known Peter Michaels for years, Ms. Anderson. He's a hardass, and a jerk, even for this place. But I have a hard time believing that he would do something like this. Right now, it's just your word against his. Unless you give me proof that you're innocent, as much as I would like to believe you, I can't."
"The proof is in my system, sir. I've kept records of all my correspondence since this project started. All the e-mails I sent him, as well as recordings of my calls to him, are in there." Chloe looked down again. I just sold out my boss to save my own skin. I'm a rat, as well as a traitor.
Reilly looked at Chloe for a few minutes, then gathered up his notes. "All right, then. I will have it checked out. If what you've told me is true, then you might have just saved yourself years in prison." He turned to leave, then stopped briefly. "I know I'm supposed to remain objective, but... I think I believe you, Ms. Anderson. And I will do what I can to get you out of this and back at CTU as soon as possible." He turned to the guard. "We're finished. Please take Ms. Anderson back to her cell."
2424242424
"Chloe! It's time for supper!" Jack's voice sounded up the stairs, where Chloe had been working on her laptop, setting up her site for work. She had received several offers from various companies for different consultant jobs, but she wanted to be totally independent. I'm going to do this on my terms.
"I'll be right down, Jack" she replied, and gingerly climbed into her power chair. The day had been one of the ones Dr. Ericsson had warned her about, and she found herself unable to walk at all. Thank god for Jack getting me this chair. She slowly made her way to the dining room, stopping briefly to wash up. Jack had prepared a simple dinner, one that he knew Chloe loved.
"Jack, are you all right?" Chloe asked. Jack was sitting down, his gaze far away.
Jack quickly snapped out of it. "I'm fine, Chloe. Just a little tired, that's all."
Chloe merely nodded. Neither one had slept well the night before. Chloe had been plagued by nightmares all night, and Jack had stayed up comforting her. "Well, let's not let this food go to waste" she said, digging in quickly. Jack merely picked at his food. His stomach was in knots by the thought of what he had to say to Chloe.
"Are you sure you're okay, Jack?" Chloe asked once she was finished. Jack had barely eaten anything, and was playing with his food, staring into space blankly.
Jack sighed and stood up. "No, I'm not. Chloe, I need to talk to you. And please, just let me talk." He walked around the table and stood next to her. "Chloe, when we first met, I have to admit, there were times when I wanted to wring your neck. I had never met anyone that could infuriate me as quickly, and as easily, as you did. But every time I went to have you removed from CTU, and my life, something would stop me. Something always came up. And I found myself starting to like having you around. Everyone else was too afraid to tell me what they really thought. You weren't. You were always honest with me."
"When I came back to CTU after going to DC, and that mess with Marwan happened, I went to you for help at first only out of desperation. You were the only one there that I knew, Chloe. But you surprised me by helping me, even at the cost of your own career. You chose me over having a job, simply because you believed me. And that wasn't the only time, either. I found myself growing to like you during our interactions. I finally found someone I could trust 100, someone that didn't help me merely because it suited their agenda."
"Those months I spent on the run, having to hide myself, were some of the worst times I had ever gone through. I was totally alone. Everyone else in my life was gone- except for you. The only time I wasn't scared was when I was with you, when you met with me to give me information on Kim. I found myself looking forward to our meetings. Those precious few minutes we spent together were enough to keep me going until I would see you again."
"That day you called me, and asked for my help, Chloe, I was scared for you. You were being hunted because of me, and the entire time, I kept praying that you would survive long enough for me to get there. I realized at that point that you were no longer a mere subordinate to me. You had become a real friend, someone I cared about. I hated having to ask you to get yourself arrested so I could get away. I was concerned that something bad would happen to you, that you would spend time in prison for me. I didn't realize it at the time, but that day was the day I really began to love you. I mistook those feelings as simple friendship."
"When I was kidnapped, then brought back, and suffered through yet another crisis with you and everyone else, I began to really question what my purpose in life was. I knew that I needed to do something with my life, something that didn't involve the government. Then I found out you had been kidnapped. I swore to find you, to get you out of whatever bad situation you were in, but a very tiny part of me was a little... I don't know, satisfied to have finally found a reason to live. Then when I found you after 2 long years of searching, Chloe, my purpose became to help you recover from what those bastards did to you."
"I discovered that helping you to heal also helped me to heal. I forgot about my problems and focused on yours. All those times you told me about the brutality you had suffered made me realize that my ordeal had been easy compared to yours. I also began to realize, after you had sent me away, that I didn't want to spend any more time away from you. You make me feel so complete, Chloe. You are what I have been looking for ever since Teri died. I only wish it hadn't taken years to realize that."
Jack reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black box, opening it and getting down on his knee next to Chloe. Chloe gasped in shock as she saw a beautiful silver ring inside. Jack took it out and offered it to her. "Chloe... will you marry me? I want to spend the rest of my life with you."
Chloe was unable to speak. He wants me to marry him? I don't believe it. And here I was, trying to get up the courage to ask him. After several agonizing minutes, she finally smiled, tears glinting in her eyes. "Yes. I will marry you, Jack."
Jack placed the ring on her finger gently. Chloe just stared at it, then looked up at Jack. "I guess now we have 2 weddings to plan."