Nina Myers held two contradictory beliefs about fate. The first and older one was that she didn't believe in it. The second one was her firm belief that Jack Bauer would be the cause of her death. She had been sure about that ever since that intense moment back in the parking lot of CTU. Other agents had managed to convince him that they needed her alive, but that was before he knew that Teri was dead. If things had been different, nobody would have had a chance to stop him.
It had now been a few years since that night. Her stay in prison had been short-lived, replaced via pardon by exile in North Africa. The deal was that she had to stay in the region, but that hadn't stopped her. She had left for Europe the first chance she got, and so far it seemed that CTU had no idea.
Now living in a busy city in central Europe, she often felt as if she was waiting for the inevitable. Work had been slow for a while, with few opportunities that she could take. She would often spend her days in the city centre, wandering without aim for hours until the sky darkened. If the American government had any idea where she was, they weren't in an hurry to let her know.
It was autumn and already there was a chill in the air. Nina was walking around as usual, taking care not to be too regular in her daily routes. As she walked, she considered her next move. A job offer had come up, the pay was high but so were the risks.
Noticing a queue where one rarely was, she stopped and followed it with her eyes to the end. There, on a table in the middle of a raised platform, was a machine that looked like a computer tower. Above it was a sign, in the local language, which informed the reader that this was the infamous "Machine of Death".
She had heard a lot about this machine. According to the news, it could tell you how you were going to die but not the time or place when it would happen. She had dismissed it as clever marketing and hype, yet she was curious. After all, she held a strong belief in what was going to cause her death. Why not test it?
Adding herself to the already lengthy queue, she watched as people left. From what she overheard, most got typical deaths like "CANCER" or "HEART DISEASE".
When it was her turn, she took a good look at the machine as she climbed onto the platform. The sleek black box had an LED screen along with some buttons, a hole for the blood sample and two slots.
Nina paid, before pressing a button and reading the instructions on the screen. Inserting her finger into the hole, she felt a little prick as a needle took a blood sample. A second or two later, she removed her finger and the machine began the analysis.
She didn't need to wait long before a piece of white card appeared in the slot. Pocketing it without reading her fate, she moved away and headed straight for her car.
Sitting down in the driver's seat, she considered the card for a moment. She was quite sure it wasn't going to say "DIED OF OLD AGE IN BED, SURROUNDED BY LOVED ONES". After a while, she took out the card and flipped it over. On the other side was one word, printed in bold black capital letters. "JACK".
Nina stared at the card in disbelief. How could it have known? This couldn't have been the work of CTU or anyone else. The machine, in ways she couldn't understand, worked! The stories she had heard, that she had dismissed as tall tales, were real.
Months passed by and her confidence had sky-rocketed. Fate had won her over, assured her with a single word that she would live as long as Jack didn't come back into her life. Contacts and friends could tell that something had changed, but she hadn't said a word to anyone.
Deals and meetings involving the most deadly of terrorists and criminals felt mundane. This had led to her taking more jobs, being almost reckless with her life. As long as she didn't get any serious injuries, she was almost invincible.
It was a Tuesday in the little Canadian town Nina was currently hiding out in. She was lying low for a while in the middle of Ontario, waiting for the right time to leave. Nobody was actually after her, but she had come to a realisation. Her recklessness, supported by fate or not, might be the very cause of Jack coming back into her life.
She had been driving home from a meeting with a contact when the accident occurred. Someone ran a red light at high speed, smashing into the side of her car. For a split-second, she had been sure she was about to die when she remembered.
Lifting her head up from the wheel, she groaned before looking outside. A woman was pacing nearby, a phone in her hand and a look of shock on her face. Was she the driver or a concerned passer-by?
Motion from the other car caught her eye as a man forced his way out of the driver's side door. As soon as he climbed out, she could tell that he was drunk.
The woman rushed over to him. "I can't believe this! I said you should have let me drive!"
Nina raised her hand and tried banging on the window, but she couldn't even hear the noise herself. She knew her injuries were serious, the last thing she needed was long-term damage. Even going to an hospital was a massive risk.
Then, to both her and the passenger's shock, the man sprinted off as sirens grew in the distance.
"What the hell, Jack!"
Nina's eyes widened, her hand slipping from the window. "Dammit," she croaked, before losing consciousness.
