-24-
"Mr and Mrs Archer?" Asked a flight attendant, approaching just as Nina passed Jack the arts section of the LA Herald. They were nearly an hour into their flight, and having already had their peanuts and their first drink they weren't sure what the woman could want. They were being periodically asked if they required anything to drink, eat or do by the first class attendants, but they hadn't been called by name yet.
"Yes?" Nina replied, as Jack flicked through the pages of the arts section, glancing up occasionally to look at the waitress and across at Nina.
"I'm sorry," the woman began. "This is compliments from the airline, congratulations on your wedding, have a lovely honeymoon." The airhostess handed them a bottle of champagne tied with a few curly streamers, it was decent champagne too, Nina was surprised, she held the bottle so Jack could glance at the label, and then held it over the armrest. "Would you like me to open it now?" The woman offered.
Nina raised her eyebrows at Jack and he considered the option, they were thirteen hours from Spain, what harm could it do to have a few drinks now? He nodded at Nina, and replied to the hostess. "Why not?"
She wandered off just as he made his way to the upcoming events section in the LA Herald. He held the page open and showed Nina the excerpt on his wife's gallery, opening a new event this weekend, the Herald claimed that the painter she was exhibiting had to be fabulous, because Teri Bauer's choice of artist was always spot on, and the exhibit was sure to make a few million for the gallery and the artist. Nina skimmed the article as he held it open for her to read. "She must be annoyed that you won't be there on opening night." She whispered to him.
Jack hadn't told Nina about the separation, and Teri had made no attempt to invite him to the gallery opening, merely mentioning it in passing whenever he saw Kim. "Yeah." He answered, nodding grimly. It earned him a searching, suspicious look from Nina, which she quickly had to wipe when the airhostess returned with a glass of champagne each, and a tray table with the champagne on that she fixed to Jack's armrest. Jack passed Nina her glass and gave her a large false smile, "to us." He said, as a toast, and chinked glasses with her, before taking a sip of champagne.
Nina waited until the waitress had left before she took a sip of her champagne. This was their honeymoon. Supposedly they'd married three months ago, but had been unable to take any time out from work until now, when they'd decided to spend sometime in Spain. Their tickets were open ended, allowing them to spend as much, or as little time in the country as necessary.
Jack caught a glance of the wedding and engagement ring as she sipped her glass. Both were thin gold, matching his own, that he wore, and the engagement ring had a nicely sized diamond in the centre of it. He recalled from his earlier inspection that the engagement ring was a little large for her finger, hence explaining why she wore it closer to her hand; the wedding band gave it some support. Nina ran a finger across her ring finger, she'd done that periodically over the last few hours, it wasn't vanity, or even to call attention to it and point out that she was unavailable, it was simply because she wasn't used to it.
-24-
"I don't know who the informant is, but he'll make contact with you during dinner." Jack's voice resounded from the bathroom, he'd left the door open for a minute so she could hear him whilst he dressed ready for dinner, leaving Nina with the bedroom to change in. They hadn't even considered who would sleep where, right now, they were jet lagged and exhausted, but a rendezvous had been planned with their informant tonight, and so they had to go.
Nina dragged her cotton polo shirt over her forehead as she listened to his words. She bypassed the ice bucket and unzipped the suitcase that Walsh's agents had packed for her. Sometimes CTU was completely paranoid, what were the chances that their suitcases would get checked by a treacherous customs worker, or that they'd blow their cover significantly that if anyone was looking at them, they'd check their hotel room? She hoped they'd packed enough clothing for them, and that it was the right size. Nina lifted a stack of shirts out of the suitcase and spotted a large mass of black shiny material, deciding she would wear that, whatever it was, she unzipped her skirt and let it drop to the floor, and grabbed the shiny material and pulled it quickly over her head.
She had been right; it was a black dress, knee length, with a slash neckline, that was almost her size. She went to the mirror to adjust the neck, which had decided to wrap itself awkwardly around her chest. "These are yours, wear them tonight." Jack had come through from the bathroom at some point when she'd had the dress over her head. He presented her with a small square velvet box, leaving it on the dresser table.
Nina caught Jack's torso in the mirror an turned in time to see his naked back retreating back into the bathroom. Nina had never really like tattoos, but she loved the ones that wound round Jack's upper arms, probably because, unlike a few men of his age that Nina knew, his arms were well toned. So was his stomach and chest, as she was along that train of thought. She had to shake her head to rid herself of thoughts about his arse as she fixed the collar of the dress and ran her fingers through her hair.
He was married, he was her boss, and even if he wasn't either of those things, he was nearly ten years older than her. She patted down her face with powder and checked her watch; they had to get a move on. She put the first earring in as she made her way over to the bathroom, fitting the second as she stood in the doorway and waited for Jack to pull his shirt on.
He noticed her in the mirror as he shrugged the sleeves over his shoulders, "Am I making us late?" He asked, hurried buttoning the brown shirt closed.
Nina slid the back on the earring and leant against the doorframe. "No, we've got some time." She fingered the earrings carefully, whilst Jack passed her a small mirror that had been inside his suitcase. She flipped it open and checked the earrings in it as he tucked his shirt into his trousers.
The earrings flashed red in the mirror at two-second intervals. They contained a small infrared transmitter, and their informant was going to be wearing infrared capable contact lenses, made of the material the compact had been coated in. "They're working." Nina told him as she shut the mirror, and waited for him to turn to leave.
Jack caught his breath for a moment when he looked at her. She looked wonderful, the black dress looked lovely with her hair, and the earrings really showed off the blue in her eyes, making them seem to sparkle with light. He shook off his thoughts and pushed past her into the main room, narrowly avoiding the ice bucket and champagne as he did so. Why was it so important to CTU that everyone think they were newly weds? Whilst it did ensure the bed was extra large, it also meant that they only had the one.
Nina followed him out of the bathroom, and collected a shawl she'd found earlier and their room key. "Do you have your wallet?" She asked, checking before they left the hotel room.
Jack patted his back trouser pocket. "Yeah...shall we go?"
-24-
"Can I have a look at your wallet?" Nina was curious as to how much research had been done into their alter egos, how much effort CTU had put into their cover. She was often amazed how careful their cover was designed, and how much revision you had to do of your 'character' profile. Jack slipped the thin black leather wallet out of his back trouser pocket and passed it across the table to Nina.
She hadn't brought her character's wallet out with her, but it was almost empty - a few dollar notes and several credit cards, which fitted with the psychological profile she'd been given. Her character was a big spender, light thinker, she only needed enough cash to pay for her parking whilst out shopping - the drinks would be on the store.
Jack's wallet was decidedly thicker. His character had credit cards with many well-known banks, and they wouldn't have a problem paying here, he had a MasterCard and visa, the only useful cards in Europe. There were a few large note pesetas, and a couple of photos, Nina was surprised to see a photograph of the two of them hugging in swimming costumes. She held it out to him. "Doctored." Jack pointed out, as the optioned hadn't occurred to her. She took a closer look, and the image of Jack seemed real, but the head on the photo was the same image as her federal id. The photo was astoundingly well made.
She slotted the photo back into his wallet and placed it next to the bread dish as the waiter returned with their drinks, a glass of red wine, and a twelve year old scotch. Jack collected it quickly and slid it into his back pocket again. They had to make small talk for all of dinner, and neither had any idea what to say that wasn't related to CTU, they'd already talked the menu to death. The only other boring conversational topic either could think of was "It's about the same temperature here as in LA."
Both of them were absorbed in laughter as they realised that, without work, they were reduced to talking about the weather. It took a moment for them to recover, and then the waiter reappeared, asking for their choice in main course. They'd ordered their starters earlier, as per their instructions. They were reasonably sure that their informant was a member of the kitchen staff, or the waiting staff, but they couldn't rule out the people on the nearby tables either.
Their instructions for tonight weren't as simple as they thought. Their food had been chosen by their informant, who had dictated the dishes by numbers, in Nina's case it was Planck's constant, 6.6261 by ten to the minus thirty four joule seconds. The sixth red wine, the second starter, the sixth main course, and the first desert. Jack had pi, the ratio of a circles circumference and it's diameter. 3.1415926...He had chosen the third scotch, first starter, fourth main course and was sharing the first desert with Nina, it was convenient their numbers coincided.
-24-
By the end of the dinner, their informant still hadn't made himself known. Nina had taken six trips to the ladies room, lingering in the corridor enroute, she was sure people were beginning to wonder if she had bladder problems. Now, as they waited for the bill, she was returning from the first real trip to the ladies room all night. She'd examined a photo off to the side of the restaurant, in a reasonably shelter section, and eventually made her way back to the table.
Jack watched her returning from the corner of the room, only to receive a look that he knew meant she'd been unsuccessful, he sighed before she reached the table, at exactly the same time as the waiter, and took her seat.
He was presented with the processed credit card receipt for tonight's dinner, and checked the amount briefly before signing and adding in another 1400 pesetas as a tip. He signed paper Jack Archer, not entirely sure if his signature was the same as the back of the card. The waiter seemed satisfied, and collected his paper, wandering off to re-enter the receipt with his tip on it.
"So, we're sitting here for a few minutes after we get the bill?" Jack asked rhetorically, scratching his eyebrow. He was thoroughly exhausted, including work yesterday, he'd been awake nearly forty hours, excluding the few minutes he'd managed to grab on the plane before his body realised how uncomfortable he was.
Nina had been up just as long, but she coped by shaking out her arms like she was having a seizure, and occasionally slapping her cheeks. He thought it was hilarious, but her eyes rarely lowered, and she never leant back on her chair, wanting to fall asleep against the wood.
The waiter came back with the bill and Jack collected the receipt as Nina collected a chocolate off the tray. A tiny piece of black chocolate wrapped in gold foil that she sliced open neatly with her nail and then popped into her mouth. She folded the paper back carefully and took the other two pieces of chocolate off the dish, "I'm exhausted, shall we go back to the hotel?"
Nina was stood from the table, collecting her wrap from the chair and clutching something in her hands. He rose, trusting she hadn't forgotten their plans for the evening, and took their room key off the table. They made their way to the exit; smiling at the waiters and waitresses they passed who wished them a pleasant evening. They took a few steps away from the restaurant entrance and back towards the hotel. "I take it you got it."
"I got it." Nina smiled at him.
"Mr and Mrs Archer?" Asked a flight attendant, approaching just as Nina passed Jack the arts section of the LA Herald. They were nearly an hour into their flight, and having already had their peanuts and their first drink they weren't sure what the woman could want. They were being periodically asked if they required anything to drink, eat or do by the first class attendants, but they hadn't been called by name yet.
"Yes?" Nina replied, as Jack flicked through the pages of the arts section, glancing up occasionally to look at the waitress and across at Nina.
"I'm sorry," the woman began. "This is compliments from the airline, congratulations on your wedding, have a lovely honeymoon." The airhostess handed them a bottle of champagne tied with a few curly streamers, it was decent champagne too, Nina was surprised, she held the bottle so Jack could glance at the label, and then held it over the armrest. "Would you like me to open it now?" The woman offered.
Nina raised her eyebrows at Jack and he considered the option, they were thirteen hours from Spain, what harm could it do to have a few drinks now? He nodded at Nina, and replied to the hostess. "Why not?"
She wandered off just as he made his way to the upcoming events section in the LA Herald. He held the page open and showed Nina the excerpt on his wife's gallery, opening a new event this weekend, the Herald claimed that the painter she was exhibiting had to be fabulous, because Teri Bauer's choice of artist was always spot on, and the exhibit was sure to make a few million for the gallery and the artist. Nina skimmed the article as he held it open for her to read. "She must be annoyed that you won't be there on opening night." She whispered to him.
Jack hadn't told Nina about the separation, and Teri had made no attempt to invite him to the gallery opening, merely mentioning it in passing whenever he saw Kim. "Yeah." He answered, nodding grimly. It earned him a searching, suspicious look from Nina, which she quickly had to wipe when the airhostess returned with a glass of champagne each, and a tray table with the champagne on that she fixed to Jack's armrest. Jack passed Nina her glass and gave her a large false smile, "to us." He said, as a toast, and chinked glasses with her, before taking a sip of champagne.
Nina waited until the waitress had left before she took a sip of her champagne. This was their honeymoon. Supposedly they'd married three months ago, but had been unable to take any time out from work until now, when they'd decided to spend sometime in Spain. Their tickets were open ended, allowing them to spend as much, or as little time in the country as necessary.
Jack caught a glance of the wedding and engagement ring as she sipped her glass. Both were thin gold, matching his own, that he wore, and the engagement ring had a nicely sized diamond in the centre of it. He recalled from his earlier inspection that the engagement ring was a little large for her finger, hence explaining why she wore it closer to her hand; the wedding band gave it some support. Nina ran a finger across her ring finger, she'd done that periodically over the last few hours, it wasn't vanity, or even to call attention to it and point out that she was unavailable, it was simply because she wasn't used to it.
-24-
"I don't know who the informant is, but he'll make contact with you during dinner." Jack's voice resounded from the bathroom, he'd left the door open for a minute so she could hear him whilst he dressed ready for dinner, leaving Nina with the bedroom to change in. They hadn't even considered who would sleep where, right now, they were jet lagged and exhausted, but a rendezvous had been planned with their informant tonight, and so they had to go.
Nina dragged her cotton polo shirt over her forehead as she listened to his words. She bypassed the ice bucket and unzipped the suitcase that Walsh's agents had packed for her. Sometimes CTU was completely paranoid, what were the chances that their suitcases would get checked by a treacherous customs worker, or that they'd blow their cover significantly that if anyone was looking at them, they'd check their hotel room? She hoped they'd packed enough clothing for them, and that it was the right size. Nina lifted a stack of shirts out of the suitcase and spotted a large mass of black shiny material, deciding she would wear that, whatever it was, she unzipped her skirt and let it drop to the floor, and grabbed the shiny material and pulled it quickly over her head.
She had been right; it was a black dress, knee length, with a slash neckline, that was almost her size. She went to the mirror to adjust the neck, which had decided to wrap itself awkwardly around her chest. "These are yours, wear them tonight." Jack had come through from the bathroom at some point when she'd had the dress over her head. He presented her with a small square velvet box, leaving it on the dresser table.
Nina caught Jack's torso in the mirror an turned in time to see his naked back retreating back into the bathroom. Nina had never really like tattoos, but she loved the ones that wound round Jack's upper arms, probably because, unlike a few men of his age that Nina knew, his arms were well toned. So was his stomach and chest, as she was along that train of thought. She had to shake her head to rid herself of thoughts about his arse as she fixed the collar of the dress and ran her fingers through her hair.
He was married, he was her boss, and even if he wasn't either of those things, he was nearly ten years older than her. She patted down her face with powder and checked her watch; they had to get a move on. She put the first earring in as she made her way over to the bathroom, fitting the second as she stood in the doorway and waited for Jack to pull his shirt on.
He noticed her in the mirror as he shrugged the sleeves over his shoulders, "Am I making us late?" He asked, hurried buttoning the brown shirt closed.
Nina slid the back on the earring and leant against the doorframe. "No, we've got some time." She fingered the earrings carefully, whilst Jack passed her a small mirror that had been inside his suitcase. She flipped it open and checked the earrings in it as he tucked his shirt into his trousers.
The earrings flashed red in the mirror at two-second intervals. They contained a small infrared transmitter, and their informant was going to be wearing infrared capable contact lenses, made of the material the compact had been coated in. "They're working." Nina told him as she shut the mirror, and waited for him to turn to leave.
Jack caught his breath for a moment when he looked at her. She looked wonderful, the black dress looked lovely with her hair, and the earrings really showed off the blue in her eyes, making them seem to sparkle with light. He shook off his thoughts and pushed past her into the main room, narrowly avoiding the ice bucket and champagne as he did so. Why was it so important to CTU that everyone think they were newly weds? Whilst it did ensure the bed was extra large, it also meant that they only had the one.
Nina followed him out of the bathroom, and collected a shawl she'd found earlier and their room key. "Do you have your wallet?" She asked, checking before they left the hotel room.
Jack patted his back trouser pocket. "Yeah...shall we go?"
-24-
"Can I have a look at your wallet?" Nina was curious as to how much research had been done into their alter egos, how much effort CTU had put into their cover. She was often amazed how careful their cover was designed, and how much revision you had to do of your 'character' profile. Jack slipped the thin black leather wallet out of his back trouser pocket and passed it across the table to Nina.
She hadn't brought her character's wallet out with her, but it was almost empty - a few dollar notes and several credit cards, which fitted with the psychological profile she'd been given. Her character was a big spender, light thinker, she only needed enough cash to pay for her parking whilst out shopping - the drinks would be on the store.
Jack's wallet was decidedly thicker. His character had credit cards with many well-known banks, and they wouldn't have a problem paying here, he had a MasterCard and visa, the only useful cards in Europe. There were a few large note pesetas, and a couple of photos, Nina was surprised to see a photograph of the two of them hugging in swimming costumes. She held it out to him. "Doctored." Jack pointed out, as the optioned hadn't occurred to her. She took a closer look, and the image of Jack seemed real, but the head on the photo was the same image as her federal id. The photo was astoundingly well made.
She slotted the photo back into his wallet and placed it next to the bread dish as the waiter returned with their drinks, a glass of red wine, and a twelve year old scotch. Jack collected it quickly and slid it into his back pocket again. They had to make small talk for all of dinner, and neither had any idea what to say that wasn't related to CTU, they'd already talked the menu to death. The only other boring conversational topic either could think of was "It's about the same temperature here as in LA."
Both of them were absorbed in laughter as they realised that, without work, they were reduced to talking about the weather. It took a moment for them to recover, and then the waiter reappeared, asking for their choice in main course. They'd ordered their starters earlier, as per their instructions. They were reasonably sure that their informant was a member of the kitchen staff, or the waiting staff, but they couldn't rule out the people on the nearby tables either.
Their instructions for tonight weren't as simple as they thought. Their food had been chosen by their informant, who had dictated the dishes by numbers, in Nina's case it was Planck's constant, 6.6261 by ten to the minus thirty four joule seconds. The sixth red wine, the second starter, the sixth main course, and the first desert. Jack had pi, the ratio of a circles circumference and it's diameter. 3.1415926...He had chosen the third scotch, first starter, fourth main course and was sharing the first desert with Nina, it was convenient their numbers coincided.
-24-
By the end of the dinner, their informant still hadn't made himself known. Nina had taken six trips to the ladies room, lingering in the corridor enroute, she was sure people were beginning to wonder if she had bladder problems. Now, as they waited for the bill, she was returning from the first real trip to the ladies room all night. She'd examined a photo off to the side of the restaurant, in a reasonably shelter section, and eventually made her way back to the table.
Jack watched her returning from the corner of the room, only to receive a look that he knew meant she'd been unsuccessful, he sighed before she reached the table, at exactly the same time as the waiter, and took her seat.
He was presented with the processed credit card receipt for tonight's dinner, and checked the amount briefly before signing and adding in another 1400 pesetas as a tip. He signed paper Jack Archer, not entirely sure if his signature was the same as the back of the card. The waiter seemed satisfied, and collected his paper, wandering off to re-enter the receipt with his tip on it.
"So, we're sitting here for a few minutes after we get the bill?" Jack asked rhetorically, scratching his eyebrow. He was thoroughly exhausted, including work yesterday, he'd been awake nearly forty hours, excluding the few minutes he'd managed to grab on the plane before his body realised how uncomfortable he was.
Nina had been up just as long, but she coped by shaking out her arms like she was having a seizure, and occasionally slapping her cheeks. He thought it was hilarious, but her eyes rarely lowered, and she never leant back on her chair, wanting to fall asleep against the wood.
The waiter came back with the bill and Jack collected the receipt as Nina collected a chocolate off the tray. A tiny piece of black chocolate wrapped in gold foil that she sliced open neatly with her nail and then popped into her mouth. She folded the paper back carefully and took the other two pieces of chocolate off the dish, "I'm exhausted, shall we go back to the hotel?"
Nina was stood from the table, collecting her wrap from the chair and clutching something in her hands. He rose, trusting she hadn't forgotten their plans for the evening, and took their room key off the table. They made their way to the exit; smiling at the waiters and waitresses they passed who wished them a pleasant evening. They took a few steps away from the restaurant entrance and back towards the hotel. "I take it you got it."
"I got it." Nina smiled at him.