A year or so passed and things had been peaceful for the pair. Even the dreams had dwindled away, although they would reappear at random every so often. It was as if they were warning Alex not to get too comfortable. Despite that, he would forget them far easier now than he used to, as if not working at CTU anymore diluted them.
The weather was good for September in Newport News, one of the many things that were going well that day. Then the awful news broke, that former President David Palmer was dead. Assassinated right in front of his own brother. For both Alex and Kim, it caused so many terrible memories of that awful day to resurface. The day when everything fell apart.
"CTU must be on high alert right now," Kim spoke as the two watched the news. Both of them were glad that they had left the agency and no longer had any obligations towards it. They knew all too well that those who did still work there had a long day ahead of themselves. Then came a loud and insistent knock on the front door. As Alex walked to answer it, he reminded himself of the nearest hidden gun. He didn't feel that they were in any imminent danger, but he was not going to take any chances. Opening the door, he saw two men who looked like typical federal agents. Anxiety gripped him tight for a moment.
Please don't let us get dragged back into everything! Not now!
"I'm Agent Paul Ellis, this is Agent Carl Hopper, FBI," the taller and older of the men spoke. Paul, who had a tanned complexion along with blond hair and blue-green eyes, reminded Alex of Jack. As Kim joined them at the door, she overheard the last part of the sentence.
"FBI? What's going on?" She asked, worried about the possibilities but relieved that it wasn't CTU. Even if it had been the latter, she was sure that neither she nor Alex would be much use nowadays.
"There's been an incident in Los Angeles," Hopper spoke. His dark hair and blue eyes reminded Kim of Alex, although he was taller and spoke with a thick New York accent.
"I'm sorry, but what does it have to do with us?" Alex asked although he wasn't sure he wanted to know.
I get the feeling he isn't talking about what happened to Palmer.
"Would we be able to come in and talk about this in more detail? I'm afraid we have some bad news," Ellis spoke. As the four moved inside, Alex wondered if they would be seeing the inside of a federal agency that day. The FBI agent began speaking as soon as they had all sat down.
"A few hours ago, a car bomb exploded. It killed one civilian and injured another. I'm sorry to tell you, but the dead woman is Michelle Dessler and the injured man is Tony Almeida," he continued. Both Alex and Kim were unable to believe what they were hearing?
"What?! Why were they targeted?" Alex asked, not sure whether to be furious or distraught at the news. He could only assume it had something to do with their old jobs.
"They, along with Chloe O'Brian and President Palmer, had knowledge in regards to Jack Bauer. O'Brian was also targeted, but CTU discovered the car bomb in time," Hopper spoke. Kim looked at him with confusion.
"My father? What did they know?" She asked, unable to come up with many possibilities.
"He faked his death, with their help. At this moment in time, I'm afraid to say that we are considering him a suspect in these attacks," Ellis spoke. He knew who Jack was to the couple and so this was not an easy conversation for him to have. Alex shook his head.
"No way, Jack is capable of a lot of things but not that. He would never kill his friends to protect himself," Alex replied. Jack would and could do almost anything if he deemed it necessary, but not this. Ellis nodded as if he knew enough about Jack Bauer to agree.
"Well, we would like you both to come with us to the FBI until we know more. For your own protection, of course," Ellis spoke.
I guess we are going to be inside a federal building today. I can only hope no flights to Los Angeles are in our immediate future.
As the car made its way into Newport News, Alex was deep in thought. It was bad enough that President Palmer was dead, but he felt even worse about Michelle's murder. She had been a close friend for some years, and it was all so unfair to him. Michelle had never done anything to deserve this fate.
Michelle was the very best of us, as pure and good as any CTU agent could ever hope to be. I can't believe she's gone, we're poorer for having lost her.
He wondered how Tony was doing. The agents had not divulged much about his physical condition. Alex knew that he would be being consumed by mental anguish right now, far worse than the physical pain. After Nina had betrayed them all, Tony had thought he would never fall in love again. That was until Michelle's resume arrived at his desk. It had taken some time for the pair to form a relationship, but it had been strong and both of them had been very much in love. Much like Michelle, Tony had always been a moral and righteous person. They had been perfect for each other.
A short drive later and the car was entering the parking lot of the FBI's Newport News field office. Despite it looking nothing like the one at CTULA, Alex couldn't help but think of that once familiar place. He thought of the aftermath of that awful day and how Mason and Tony had to calm Jack down before he killed Nina. The dream where he surrendered to his sister as well as the dream where he shot Michelle and Tony dead. The day of his arrest when he had been close to escaping before Jack caught him.
As they walked into the main office, Alex looked around. There were quite a few FBI agents busy at their desks, and he wondered how different the agency must be to CTU. Being a domestic wing of the CIA meant that they could do things that the Bureau couldn't. Escorted into a conference room, he and Kim could do little but wait for news from Los Angeles.
Hours passed with little information coming from Los Angeles, and all Alex and Kim could do was wait. Then Agent Ellis came in with unwelcome news.
"There have been some disturbing developments at CTU LA," he began. The couple looked at him and knew that yet another of those days had struck again.
"I'm sorry, but Tony Almeida passed away after succumbing to his injuries. That's not the only bad news," he continued.
Alex looked at him and again felt the mix of anger and sorrow. What had Tony done to deserve this? The only consolation was that he was once more reunited with Michelle. He didn't think Tony could have lived without her.
"There was a gas attack on the building with several people dead," he finished. Kim looked at him with worry.
"Is my father okay? What about Chloe O'Brian?" She asked whilst trying to remember anyone else who might have been at CTU during the attack. So many of the people she had known were dead by this point. Early deaths almost seemed part of the job description when you worked at CTU Los Angeles.
"Both of them survived, they were able to access airtight rooms in time," Ellis replied.
The agents left them alone and a gloomy silence fell inside the conference room. Despite being on the other side of the country and uninvolved, it felt like one of those days. More death, chaos and far-reaching consequences. Alex wondered how many more needed to die before the cycle finally came to an end.
If I believed in curses, I would think one had been cast on CTU.
As Ellis and Hopper drove them back home, Alex and Kim had their minds on everything that had happened in LA. Even if they didn't think of the deaths outside of the agency, there were still plenty more within. Both Michelle and Tony were dead, killed by the same car bomb hours apart. Then came the gas attack, killing several within CTU as if the building needed to sate its bloodlust.
It's the last thing I want to consider, but I can't help wondering. If we still worked there or at least lived in Los Angeles, what would have happened to us? Would we have survived yet another harrowing day, or would we be among the dead?
Alex glanced over at Kim before taking her hand and squeezing it, hoping that the thoughts would go away. He had experienced enough trauma for a lifetime, he didn't need the what-ifs as well.