Chapter 8

The following takes place between 9:15am and 9:32am EST, 2 days after the return of Jack Bauer from Sangala.

After a short recess, the Senate had come to its conclusion. The bailiffs hushed the chattering courtroom, as Jack took his place once again before the committee. He weakly smiled at his three friends, acknowledging his appreciation.

"Mr. Bauer, I requested and lead the investigation into the actions taken by you and the Counter Terrorist Unit, in order to determine the validation of the intensive interrogations performed on witnesses and suspects over time." He paused. "I've now come to realise today, that, while I never doubted your patriotism, I have gained an understanding of the situations CTU was forced to manage every day. Although the methods seem unethical and violent at a glance, and in fact, I do still agree with these descriptions, I understand now that you had no choice. I understand that these graphic, seemingly extreme actions were of no benefit to you, and without them, we truly would live in a different world. The Senate agrees that all testimony delivered today has been objective, and an honest evaluation of your actions. We, the United States Senate, move to clear you of all charges of torture and human rights violations. Furthermore, we move to reinstate the Counter Terrorist Unit, on the condition of full declassification of investigation within a month of their completion. Court is adjourned."

Sunlight shone through the windows, as if a sign from the universe of Jack's relief. While he had no intention of working at CTU ever again, he was grateful that a new generation of workers would be able to maintain the standard he and his colleagues had established, to help keep America safe. As the courtroom began to clear out, Jack couldn't help but grin. He wasn't being viewed as a monster anymore. For the first time in a long time, Jack had faith that justice would continue to be served under the current presidential administration, a sense of faith he'd since lost after the resignation of David Palmer.

—

The two women sat at the back of the courtroom, at opposite ends, unbeknownst to each other, with warmth flooding both of their hearts as the Senate delivered its verdict. Since the investigation had been discussed on the news all those months ago, they'd been furious, angered, at the way he was being treated and discussed, with the same level of respect as the terrorists he'd worked so hard to defeat. After not speaking to him for so long, hearing the Senate's comments had driven them to suck it up and make amends.

They're finally treating him like the hero he is.

Seeing Tony, and Michelle, two people one of the women had been so close to, she was pleased at how happy they looked. How relaxed they looked. For as long as she'd known them, she'd only ever seen them stressed or worried. She'd seen them at their lowest points, it felt good to see them at a higher one.

The other woman was not focused on Tony and Michelle, but on identifying the woman across the row from her. She seemed to have a great level of endearment for Jack. There was something familiar about her, she sworn she'd seen pictures in Jack's file. She looked like a close relative.

A pang of guilt struck her chest as Jack moved over to Tony and Michelle. She didn't know how to approach them, what to say, what to do.

Is he still upset at me? After the way I treated him? I couldn't blame him.

But as Jack's blue eyes met hers, she felt like a deer in headlights, frozen where she stood.

"Kim?"

Oh my God, it's his daughter. Renee, how could you be such an idiot?

Of course he noticed Kim first, he hadn't spoken to her in how many years. Feeling suddenly very out of place, Renee ducked out of the courtroom amongst the crowd of stragglers. It wasn't the time, she had no right to intrude on their moment. But Jack had noticed her, in fact he'd seen both of them at the same time when he'd scanned the room. The look of poignance on each of their faces was somehow the same. He wished he could have said both of their names at once. Stopped Renee from running away. Jack needed to talk to her too. But the absolute shock at seeing his daughter, after her decision to cut him out all those years ago, it consumed him. And so grown up, too. It hit him so hard to see her no longer as a teenager, no longer as his baby girl, but as an adult, her own person. Traces of her mother's features still remained. Another reminder of time lost.

Kim ran to him, as fast as her pumps would allow her, throwing her arms around her father, already in tears. Tony and Michelle took a step back, allowing the father and daughter to reunite.

"Daddy. I've missed you so much."

He was overcome with emotion, squeezing her back, as if the force would compensate for the years spent apart.

"I've missed you too. I'm sorry for everything you've had to see, everything you've had to go throu-"

She cut him off, stepping back to look at him, noticing the faint lines on his face, the dark circles beneath his eyes, the hint of a deep scar beginning near his suit collar. "You can't blame yourself for that. I'm the one that pushed you away because I was too stupid and immature to understand what you did. Instead of taking responsibility for my behaviour, I blamed you. I'm so sorry for the way I treated you all these years."

Sliding a tear across her face with his thumb, he shook his head, his heart breaking at the thought of his daughter feeling so guilty over him. "Kim, what you had to deal with was something no child should ever have to go through. I can't blame you for what you did, I kept away from you because I honestly thought it was best. Every time I got mixed up in CTU, somebody paid the price, what you said that day was true. But now I'm taking a step back, trying to make a life for myself away from all of that."

"Well I want you back in mine. Also, I-I have something to tell you." Kim stammered, it was almost childlike. "A few years ago, I met a guy, Stephen, we got married not that long ago, and uh…" She gulped. "We have a baby, a little girl. Dad…dad…you're a grandfather."

Jack's eyes welled with tears. "Sweetheart…that's amazing."

"I should have told you sooner, I'm so sorry you missed it, God, I'm such a-"

He hushed her, embracing his daughter once more. "It's okay…because I'm going to be here for you and your family now, and we're going to make the most of all the time we spend together from now on. No more apologising, no more regrets, it's over now, it's all over. No more CTU, no more missions, I'm done."

Sniffling, she pulled back, pulling a stack of photographs from her handbag. Kim handed him the photo of the three of them from the hospital, taken minutes after giving birth.

He smiled as he flicked through them.

"I named her Theresa, Teri, after….after mom."

Jack couldn't help but cry again. For years he'd forced down his emotions, told himself that not feeling was the only way he'd make it through China, through anything, alive. Now, he let himself feel. After a moment, Kim took the time to talk to Tony and Michelle, who then explained their sudden disappearance after months of consoling her following her father's false death. They gushed over parenthood together, Tony fishing the most recent photo of Joe and Christina from his wallet. It was a rare moment of bliss for the four of them, hell, it felt like the most normal conversation they'd had in, well, ever.

Finally, they could say they were leading normal lives now, for good this time.

—

The following takes place between 3:00pm and 3:05pm EST, 2 days after the return of Jack Bauer from Sangala.

Dialling the number he'd dialled eight times before, he didn't give himself any expectations. But after seeing Renee in the courtroom, he realised that maybe she hadn't been avoiding him because of something he had done. After the Blackwater investigation, she was broken, distraught by grief, and he'd wanted to be there for her. He'd wanted to support her, comfort her. But he respected her boundaries. If Renee wanted space, then she wanted space. If and when she wanted to talk, he would be there, waiting. Like each time prior, Jack heard a continuous dial tone before the familiar chirpiness of her recorded message, a reminder of who she once was. Waiting for the beep, he spoke.

"Renee…I…I saw you at the trial today…please…please talk to me. I understand if you didn't want to talk all this time, it was a big thing, a terrible thing to cope with, and I respect whatever you need to deal with it. But you shouldn't go through it alone. Just let me be there for you."

—

Renee had seen Jack's number appear on her cell phone eight times. And eight times she'd been too scared to pick up the phone. She didn't know what she wanted. She didn't know where to begin. She was grieving and she had let it wreck her. But she'd always had trouble admitting she needed help, since she was a child. And being a woman at the FBI had simply reinforced that. She was 'no bullshit Agent Renee Walker.' She wasn't supposed to ask for help. Finally, she'd sucked it up and gone to support Jack at the hearing, even if he didn't notice her until the end. But fate had it that his daughter had chosen to show up for similar reasons on the same day. Renee figured it was some cruel joke by whatever cosmic forces drove the world. Some kind of sign that she should let Jack go.

But the ninth time his number appeared, Renee Walker picked up the phone.