A/N: I posted chapters 7&8 on the same day so make sure to go back and read chapter 7 too! Thanks!

Chapter 8

Jack's first day of work felt slow. His last few experiences working at CTU had been so fast-paced, requiring split second decisions that held people's lives in the balance. There were still minor threats coming in, but nothing that CTU couldn't neutralize easily.

It also felt strange to be working with Katrina. He had spent more time at CTU handling these types of situations than she ever had, yet she was technically in charge. She showed Jack around, made sure he understood protocols, and helped him with making all the decisions regarding the minor threats. Jack felt like she was babysitting him and it was annoying him.

At the end of the work day, Katrina knocked on his office door and Jack signaled for her to come in. He was on the phone with DHS as she walked in but he finished up his conversation quickly and hung up.

"Need something?" Jack asked.

"No. I'm heading out," Katrina told him. "I just wanted to say good job today. And, I know that having me looking over your shoulder the whole day is probably not fun for you. I'm sorry for that."

"It's okay," Jack lied. "I don't mind."

Katrina laughed. "Yeah, you do. I can tell. But, it is only temporary. I promise."

Jack smiled at the fact she saw right through his lie. He had to admit she was good at her job. She had good instincts.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Jack," Katrina said. Jack said goodbye to her and she left his office. Jack packed up his things, checked in with the workers on the night shift, and then drove home.

Jack pulled into the driveway and found Audrey pushing Jack Jr. in his toy car in the driveway. He smiled at the sight of his beautiful family. As he got out of the car, Audrey was carrying Jack Jr. like a superhero over her head and flew him into Jack. Jack Jr. was laughing as she carried him while making whooshing noises as if he were flying through the air. Jack smiled as she handed his son over to him.

"Dada!" the boy shouted, hugging Jack.

"He missed you today," Audrey told him. "How did your first day go?"

"It was good," Jack told her. "Nothing major happened today so it was a pretty easy first day."

"That's good," Audrey said. "You felt like you could handle everything okay?"

"Yeah," Jack answered. "Of course, Katrina was peering over my shoulder the entire time."

"Who?"

"Katrina Wolff. She's my babysitter from Division," Jack explained.

"Ah, so they know about the frequent breaking of protocol and want to make sure you are willing to play by their rules from now on," Audrey rationalized.

"Yeah," Jack agreed.

"And how long do you think you can keep up that facade?" Audrey teased.

"It depends on when their protocol gets in the way," Jack reasoned. He smiled at her and grabbed her by the hip to pull her closer. "Like you should talk though. You've broken plenty of rules."

"And when was my breaking the rules ever not about helping you?" Audrey defended. "You're just a terrible influence on me."

Jack kissed her tenderly, not realizing that Kim had walked to Audrey's house.

"Gross. Get a room," Kim commented, feigning disgust. Truthfully, she was happy that Audrey and her dad were back together. They had seemed so happy in the time that they were dating and Kim wanted that happiness for her dad and also for Audrey who she had become so close with over the last two years.

"Sorry," Jack and Audrey muttered, stepping apart.

"Do you three want to come over for dinner? Stephen made lasagna but forgot to cut down the recipe to feed only two. There's enough to feed an army."

Jack and Audrey agreed and enjoyed a nice dinner with Kim and Stephen. Afterwards, Jack and Stephen sat on the couch to watch a baseball game. Jack held his son on his lap. Jack Jr. kept repeating the word 'ball' over and over again.

Kim and Audrey sat out on the porch, each with a glass of wine.

"So, feeling any better about my dad's job?" Kim asked.

Audrey sighed. "I mean, not really. But, it's not really something I can control. Hence the need for wine."

"I just don't get why he'd go back there after all the terrible things that have happened to him there," Kim said, shaking her head.

"Some people are more comfortable in hell," Audrey muttered.

"What?"

"It's something Tony Almeida told me once," Audrey explained. She sipped her wine. "I wish he hadn't been right."

Kim sipped her wine too. "He'll be okay. I'm sure of it."

Audrey drew a tight smile. "I hope so."

The next day, Jack had his first appointment with Dr. Trost. Jack was nervous. The eval had been exhausting enough. He sat in the waiting room and sent a quick text to Audrey to remind her that he would be late because of this appointment. He wanted to be sure that he wasn't making her worry about him.

"Jack," Dr. Trost said, coming out of his office into the waiting room. "Good to see you. Come on in."

Jack walked into the office and took a seat on the couch across from Dr. Trost's chair.

"How are you?" Dr. Trost asked.

"Fine," Jack said firmly. "How are you?"

"It's been a long week," Trost answered honestly. "And, it's only Tuesday."

That got a smile from Jack. He was only expecting Trost to answer with a simple 'good' before turning the conversation back to him.

"I'm surprised you chose not to go to a different therapist after I didn't give you a five star review to CTU," Trost told him.

"Yeah, well, I guess I wanted to know why I didn't pass," Jack explained bitterly.

"I'm like a human lie detector. And, my bullshit meter was flying off the charts during your eval."

Jack was surprised at how honest Dr. Trost was. It was actually refreshing to Jack.

"Alright, so what do you want me to tell you so that I can be done with these sessions?" Jack asked him, trying to get to the point.

"Doesn't really work that way," Dr. Trost told him. "Have you ever been to therapy before?"

Jack shook his head.

"I'm not looking for the right answer or every detail of your life or anything like that," Trost explained. "Basically we are just going to have conversations. You can talk to me about whatever you'd like. Work, your family, the annoyance of driving in LA traffic. Whatever is on your mind."

"Seriously?" Jack asked. "So you don't need to talk about China? Or anything from my past?"

Trost shook his head. "Not unless you want to. Or, think that you need to."

"I don't."

"Okay," Trost agreed.

"Well, then rather than wasting time talking about nothing, how about we cut this session short and I go home to my family," Jack suggested.

"Is that where you'd rather be right now?" Trost asked him.

"Yes," Jack answered.

"What are you going to do with them when you get home?"

"Eat dinner," Jack answered. "Play with my son."

"Oh, yeah, what kind of things do you two do together?"

"All sorts of things. I push him in his toy car. We play with his soccer ball, which is actually more like having a dog. I roll it and he chases it."

Trost laughed. "Yeah, kids that age can seem more like a puppy than a human being. Is he talking much yet?"

"Just a few single words. But, he tries to repeat everything Audrey or I say. I have to be careful not to swear."

Trost smiled. "They are like sponges and somehow those are the easiest words to pick up on. What about Audrey? Does she swear?"

"Not really. Not unless she's really pissed off."

"Ever been on the end of that?" Trost questioned jokingly. Jack's demeanor changed and Trost sensed that he had hit a nerve, which hadn't been his intention.

You son of a bitch, Jack. You son of a bitch. You killed him. He saved your life.

Audrey's words replayed in Jack's head and he could practically feel the sting on his cheek from her slapping him after he had let Paul die. Jack believed she had every reason to hate him for that and knew that she no longer did, but it was still painful to remember.

"Jack?" Trost asked, realizing that Jack was no longer paying attention to him. "You okay?"

Jack looked up at him. "I'm fine."

Trost brought the conversation back to Jack's son, finding that Jack seemed to enjoy talking about him. When Jack's session was over, he actually felt like it hadn't been as bad as he was expecting.

When Jack got home, he found Audrey washing dishes at the kitchen sink.

"Hey, how was your day?" she called out as she heard him come through the door. Jack didn't answer and instead came behind her and turned her around to face him. He kissed Audrey passionately, trying to take away the pain he had caused her on the day that he had disappeared. She had told him that she forgave him for that but he still felt guilty. He could still remember the weight of that choice, letting Paul die or letting their only lead on the terrorist attacks die. He knew he had made the right decision, but he would forever have Paul's blood on his hands.

"Wow," Audrey said with a smile, as their kiss ended. "I missed you too."

"I love you, Audrey," Jack told her, pushing back a strand of hair that had fallen into her face. He pulled her into a hug.

Audrey smiled. This was a nice way to be greeted but it seemed unusual. "I love you too. Is everything okay?"

"No," Jack whispered. Audrey hugged him tighter. She wasn't sure what had happened during his therapy session and she wasn't going to ask. She was glad that he was finally telling her how he was actually feeling.

After a minute, Jack was feeling a little better. He kissed Audrey on the cheek, silently thanking her for just being there and not pressuring him to say more. They broke apart and Jack heard Jack Jr. banging his fork against his plate. He went over to his son and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"He was getting hungry so I started his dinner early," Audrey told Jack from the kitchen. "I'm heating up our plates now."

Jack looked at the child's plate and saw that he had eaten all of dinner except for the spills that hadn't quite made it to his mouth.

"Mommy's a good cook, huh?" Jack asked him.

"More!" Jack Jr. said.

"You want more food?" Jack asked him, proud that his son was telling them what he wanted.

"More," Jack Jr. repeated.

Audrey put more food on his plate, and Jack and Audrey ate their dinners with him.

After dinner Audrey wiped the food off of Jack Jr. "I think it's bath time."

"No!" Jack Jr. cried. Audrey picked him up and he reached out for Jack while he cried.

"I've got him," Jack told her, taking his son into his arms. Jack Jr. was still crying when Jack held him. "What's wrong, buddy?"

Jack Jr. pointed to a superhero action figure that was lying on the ground. Jack carried him over to it and handed him the toy. Jack looked at Audrey. "Can he take this one into the bath?"

Audrey nodded and smiled. Jack was such a good dad and she loved how much Jack Jr. had taken to him since he arrived. "Yeah, of course."

Jack carried his son, with the toy, to the bathroom and Audrey followed behind. Audrey drew the bath while Jack got his son ready. Once in the bath, Audrey washed Jack Jr. while Jack distracted him by playing with him with his toy. At one point, Jack Jr. submerged his toy into the water and then swung the toy up as if it were flying, causing the water from the bath to splash and soak both of his parents.

Jack Jr. fell into a fit of giggles and Jack and Audrey laughed along with him.

"Do you think that's funny?" Audrey asked Jack Jr. Jack Jr. chuckled in response and nodded his head. He hit his hand against the surface of the water and again splashed his parents as well as himself. He laughed again.

Jack watched Audrey make a small splash back at their son, causing him to laugh even harder. He loved moments like this. Simple yet perfect moments that reminded him that he was part of something normal and beautiful. Jack's thoughts were broken at the feeling of water on his face that Audrey had flicked at him.

"Hey," Jack defended. He got his hand wet and then flicked water back at Audrey playfully. By the time they were done giving Jack Jr. his bath, Jack and Audrey were soaked from the waist up. They dried off Jack Jr. and then wiped some of the water off of themselves.

Then, Jack sat with Audrey as she read Jack Jr. a book before bed. Jack Jr. was getting good at identifying objects when Audrey asked him to. She was so focused on reading to him that she didn't realize that Jack had fallen asleep with his head on her shoulder. She looked over once she finished the book and saw that Jack was fast asleep. She smiled at him.

"Dada," Jack Jr. whispered.

"Shh," Audrey whispered back, putting her finger in front of her lips. "Daddy's sleeping."

Jack Jr. copied her by putting his own finger over his lips as if shushing someone. Audrey sat there for a minute, not wanting to move Jack just yet. Then, Jack Jr. fell asleep sitting on her lap and cuddled into her chest. She felt so happy to have both of them and let them lay like that all night.