A/N: I do apologize for how short this chapter is. I'm going on vacation tomorrow, and I wanted to get something out before I left. I do hope you enjoy anyway, and don't hate me too much for the cliffhanger.
"Raines," Ava muttered. "Why do I know that name?"
Jen frowned. "Isn't that Audrey's last name?"
"Paul Raines is her husband," Curtis explained.
Ava held up a hand. "Wait...so Jack's new girlfriend is married?"
"Is now really the time?" Bill asked.
"They're separated," Curtis told her.
"Yeah, great. But she's still married." She turned to Jen. "Remind me when this is over to have a word or fifty with Jack."
Michelle sighed. "We have more important things to deal with right now. Like where Raines is and if the bad guys have found him yet."
Curtis shook his head. "I think if they found him, one of two things would happen - we'd all be dead, or we'd all be free."
"So we need to find him first," Bill said. "Has anyone seen him tonight?"
Michelle nodded. "I have." When they all turned to look at her in surprise, she shrugged. "I noticed that Audrey was with him and I wondered what they could be talking about. They left the main room before the lights were cut."
Ava turned to Curtis. "Do you think Raines knows that these guys are after him?"
"It wouldn't take a rocket scientist. My guess is he knows."
"This is a big place," Jen pointed out. "Where do we start?"
"What about the control room?" Bill asked.
Ava shook her head. "The power is out. The only reason the audio worked is because it's on a separate line." She paused. "We could just start searching."
"That will take forever," he argued. "We don't have that kind of time."
Jen spoke up. "You said Audrey was with him?" she asked Michelle. When the agent nodded, she thought for another moment. "Well, if they're separated and Audrey is with Jack now, I imagine that they need to talk about their relationship, maybe filing for divorce. That's not a conversation you would want interrupted - especially by the new boyfriend."
"And all the rooms have electronic locks," Ava added. "So they can't use any of those."
"Exactly. So what does that leave?"
"There are conference rooms," Bill said.
"And lounges on each floor," Curtis added.
Ava sighed. "We're gonna have to split up."
Bill nodded. "I agree. Curtis, I want you and Michelle to take everything on the fifth floor to the top. Ava and I will take the bottom."
"Uh, what about me?" Jen asked.
"You're a civilian. You can't get involved with this."
Ava held up a hand to stop him. "She's my friend, and there are a bunch of crazy people running around with automatic weapons. I'm not leaving her alone."
"She can't come with us."
"Look, Bill, I get that you're the Director. And you're even a good one. But right now is not the time. I'm not leaving her, and you can't make me. She knows how to fire a weapon, and she can land a damn good punch. Which is better than some of the other agents we have."
Bill sighed. "There's no way I can win this argument, is there?"
"Not today. Sorry."
"Alright," he acquiesced. "We all have our phones. You find anything, you call. We have to find Raines and keep him safe. We can't let that package get anywhere near these guys."
"They're already too close," Ava murmured.
Ava, Jen and Bill set out first, moving toward the fourth floor. As Curtis and Michelle slipped out as well, he caught her arm.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you."
She didn't meet his eyes. "We don't have time for this right now."
"I know. I just...I needed you to know. I didn't want to keep this from you, but I had orders."
She finally raised her eyes, and Curtis caught a glimpse of the pain she was feeling before her face became expressionless.
"We can talk about it later, Curtis, I promise. But right now we have a job to do."
He nodded, knowing that that was really the best he could hope for right now.
"Let's go find Raines then."
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"Jack, we need to get out here."
"I know. I'm working on a plan."
Tony rolled his eyes. "Your plans usually involve suicide missions and lots of gunfire. I'm thinking we need to be a little more quiet than that."
Jack glared at his friend. "You've been spending too much time with Ava."
The younger agent grinned. "She's my girlfriend."
"I saw that kiss. How long have you two been together?"
Tony shrugged. "About two hours."
Jack sighed. "You're kidding me."
"No."
"You're pathetic."
"I know. But I've got the girl now, so that makes up for it. Now are we going to get out of here or what?"
Jack looked around again. "I'm really not sure we can. Not without getting everyone's attention."
"Please tell me you came up with some kind of plan."
He nodded. "We wait. And when we get the chance, we take out the bastard on stage."
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The corridor was quiet as Bill, Ava and Jen crept down it. Closed doors on either side of them, Ava felt as though she'd fallen into a horror movie. Flashes of The Shining came to her, and she half-expected two little girls to appear at the end of the hall, asking her to go play with them. Inwardly rolling her eyes, she told herself to knock it off - she obviously watched too many movies, and right now she needed to focus.
They came to a corner, and peered around it, their eyes searching the next hallway. It was empty, just as all the others had been, and Ava was starting to worry. They had no idea where the bad guys were, and in which direction they were heading. It was possible that the next corner they turned could bring them face-to-face with the people who wanted to kill them. Ava didn't even want to think about what that gunfight would look like.
"We're coming up on the last conference room on this floor," Bill said quietly, his voice a low rumble. "If it's empty, we'll go down to the first floor."
"And if they're not there?" Jen asked.
"We go to Plan B."
"There's a Plan B?"
Ava shook her head. "That's his way of saying we're up the creek without a paddle and surrounded by man-eating piranhas."
"Very comforting."
She shrugged. "Truth is a bitch. Come on."
Taking the lead, she led them around the corner and across the red plush carpet. She held her gun in front of her, trying to be ready for anything that came at them, and she could feel Bill and Jen do the same. If she had time to think about it, Ava was proud of her friend. She wasn't exactly used to high-stress situations, and she was taking this one in stride. Ava knew that it was moments like these where you found out what a person was really made of, and she was fiercely proud of Jen and her determination.
They came to the door of the conference room, and Ava saw that it was closed, and the blinds covering the floor length windows were closed tightly. She doubted that the hotel kept the room like that - they would want to showcase every amenity they had. That meant there was a good chance that whoever was inside didn't want anybody interrupting their conversation. Ava just hoped that it was Audrey and her husband instead of the other people who were looking for them.
Reaching out, she gently turned the doorknob, grateful when she found that it was unlocked. She slowly pushed the door open, her gun nosing into the room first. When she saw Audrey and a dark-haired men talking animatedly, she breathed a sigh of relief.
Audrey didn't feel the same way. "Oh my God," she gasped.
Bill and Jen came the rest of the way into the room, and shut the door behind them. Ava lowered her weapon.
"Calm down, Audrey. We're the good guys."
The other woman seemed to finally get a good look at her and understand that they weren't in any immediate danger. "Ava...Jack introduced us earlier."
"Right. And now we're here to save you and your husband."
"We're separated." It sounded as though it were an automatic response.
Ava rolled her eyes. "Same difference." She turned to the husband. "Paul Raines?"
He looked at her warily, and Ava took a moment to take him in. He was tall, and the tuxedo he wore looked as though it had been made just for him. His dark hair was cut short, but she could see that it curled naturally. His gray eyes were penetrating as he continued to stare at her.
Ava looked over at Bill. "Call Curtis and Michelle. Tell them where we are and to get down here as soon as they can. The more people we have, the better I'll feel." She turned back to Paul. "My name is Ava Connelly. I'm a federal agent. You were supposed to make a trade with another agent tonight?"
"What?" Audrey asked, turning to her husband. "Paul, what is she talking about?"
He didn't answer her, but kept his eyes on Ava. "Do you have a badge or something? You can't honestly expect me to just take your word on it."
Bill hung up the phone and reached for his badge, tossing it onto the mahogany table. "Bill Buchanan, regional director of CTU Los Angeles."
Paul picked the badge up, examining it closely until he seemed to be satisfied. "I was supposed to be meeting with an Agent Manning."
"He's on his way," Ava explained. "And as soon as he's here, we're going to get you out of here."
He frowned. "What? Why?"
"Maybe you've noticed the loss of power? We've been taken hostage."
Paul swallowed hard. "They're after me?"
"Looks like it." She turned to Bill. "They're on their way?"
"They were on the eighth floor. They're coming."
The only warning Ava had was the soft scrape of a boot against the carpet. Her mind immediately told her that it couldn't be Michelle and Curtis - they hadn't had enough time to get down six floors. Her entire body tensed as she realized that they had been caught.
"Get down!" she yelled.
The large glass windows that looked out onto the hall exploded into a thousand shards as bullets ripped through them, heading straight for Ava and her companions.
