In The Air, Heading For London

          I checked my paperwork again. Jack had given us all aliases; the U.K. guys wouldn't break a sweat, but Nina did know who we were and if we ran into her, at least Lex and I could save ourselves. Tony was the only one she'd probably remember, me if I were terribly unlucky. For this mission, as I did on my training runs, I was traveling as Lex's sister – being somebody's sibling seemed to be a palatable excuse for being my age and doing the things I was doing. I also had the folder in my overhead bag, which I was to open as soon as I received verbal confirmation from Jack, which would be as soon as I phoned him from Heathrow Airport to tell him we weren't all dead.

          As I always seemed to, I had the window seat, with Leticia next to me. Her handler, whose name I had by then learned, insisted on sitting with her. I marked him right then as a guy who definitely did his job that I could depend on. Tony was directly behind me with Lex next to him, and I actually missed having Lex next to me to talk to. We did a lot of that at work, because we were the two who flew under the radar. Some others were not so lucky.

          I turned in my seat and looked at Tony. "I don't want to screw this up."

          "I know," he said. "That's why Jack sent us. We know you can't do this alone."

          "Nobody gets there alone," I repeated the mantra, and he nodded. "Damn straight," he said, not having to add the 'especially after the whole Palmer-Drazen scandal and my girlfriend being a Serbian mole bitch' line.

          I flicked my gaze to my 'brother' but couldn't come up with a smile. "How do things look?"

          "I think we're good, but I won't really know till we're on the ground." He looked back at me. "You should try to relax, get some sleep. We all should."

          "Right," I said, flouncing back into my seat. "I can't sleep on airplanes."

          Leticia looked over at me. "Because you hate them or because you're nervous?"

          "Both."

          "At least you're having a little fun."

          "I wouldn't call this that much fun."

          "You like it here."

          "I didn't the first time," I pointed out.

          "Your dream date is Steve from Coupling," she reminded me. By this time Weiss had taken an interest in the conversation. I arched an eyebrow. "So what? That's not about this."

          "You brought the DVD!"

          "Not like I'm going to watch it," I scoffed.

          She rolled her eyes appropriately. She knew come morning I'd be watching Jack Davenport and staring off into my own English paradise. Th motive might be different this time though.

          "Excuse me," Weiss interjected, "but what the hell are you two talking about?"

          "Stalking…"

          I cut my friend off. "Um, nothing important, Agent Weiss, sir."

          He hesitated, and probably knew I was lying. "Call me Weiss," he insisted, "the formality creeps me out."

          I didn't say that that made two of us, though that wasn't what I was creeped about.

Heathrow International Airport London, England

          Dialing with shaky fingers. I hated that. I probably looked like a rookie. I hated looking like a rookie. Granted, my working knowledge was out of books and Jack Bauer's brain, but still…

          "Bauer."

          "It's me. Still clear?"

          "Yeah, go ahead."

          "Okay. Jack?"

          "Yeah."

          "Wish me luck?"

          "Good luck. Call me every day, remember?"

          "Got it. Over and out." I clapped my encoded cell phone shut and walked over to where the guys were dealing with the luggage. "That's an all clear."

          "Want to sound any more like an air traffic controller?" Tony quipped, and I just chuckled, grabbed my bag, and started over toward Lex, who was coming back with the keys to the rental car. "You tell me what's going on here, then, field captain," I said quietly enough so nobody else but my little field team could hear. He bit his lip. "We've got to figure out what that is first," he reminded me.

          I nodded but more to myself. How much did I actually know about what I was trying to do here? And could I get it done? No time for second-guessing. No time for anything but to just go out and play.

Los Angeles Two Years Earlier

          I made my way through the light crowd in the outdoor plaza on my way into the Edwards theater. I was desperately trying for that FBI agent-adult cool that I tend to go for in my leather jacket, jeans and the CSI Las Vegas shirt my friend had mailed me a few months before. Checking my watch as I moved inside, I confirmed that I wasn't late. I was there right on time for the film festival's second intermission, at five p.m. on the head. It was easy to spot exactly who I was looking for because she was waiting for me in the lobby as she'd promised.

          She broke out a warm smile as I approached, and I couldn't help but return it. "It's great to see you again, Brittany," she said as we embraced.

          I chuckled. "The feeling's mutual, Mrs. Bauer."

          "Teri," she reminded me. I never could get used to calling her by her first name. "Brittany, this is my husband, Jack, and my daughter Kim."

          "It's a pleasure to finally meet you," I said as I shook Kim's hand, then Jack's.

          The man who would become my boss regarded me with an open warmth. I was a friend of his wife's, and I was an equal, not someone to be treated junior to him. The four of us spent the night talking and debating, and only because we ended up talking about my political philosophy did I launch myself into a brave new world. I didn't notice the piqued look Jack shot in my direction. All I know is that at some point the conversations were less with Teri about visual art and more with Jack about forensic science.

          I never looked back, or maybe I didn't have the chance.

The Hotel George

London, England

            "Brittany, it's time."

          "What?" I said, looking up from the floor. We were standing outside our pair of hotel rooms.

          Lex was looking at me. "You okay?"

          "Just thinking," I said. "What's up?"

          Tony and Lex exchanged a glance, then my new sibling turned back to me. "I'll go ahead and get you set up, and Weiss can handle their thing, and then we'll swap out," he said by way of explanation. I nodded, and followed him in as he unlocked the door to the room that Leticia and I would be sharing for obvious reasons on this rendezvous.

          As he prepared what would become our portable workstation, I set my suitcase on the bed and opened it up. Inside the front lining was the package I'd had to declare before I got on the plane. Inside of it was a nine-millimeter untraceable firearm with a detachable scope and the shoulder holster to put it in. I slipped off my jacket and slipped on the holster before grabbing my jacket again.

          Leticia was staring at my back. "You carry a gun?"

          "For this, yes, I'm carrying. CTU protocol," I explained, having slept with a copy of the orders manual, figuratively of course. "I don't like it any more than you do, but the people we might be up against … are very dangerous people."

          Lex was looking up from his kneeling position on the floor. He knew well the story of Nina Myers. As if I were suddenly aware of his attention, I met his gaze. "While you're over there, I want you to hand me the folder that should be in the case."

          He did. I broke the seal on the envelope, produced the folder and skimmed the paperwork that Jack and George Mason had put together, including two critical sources in England that would be of vital importance to accomplishing this recon outside of the Counterterrorism Center limits. One of them had a notation to contact the source immediately upon arrival in the country so he could establish countermeasures. I bit my lip and told myself this was it. There really wasn't any turning back.

          I picked up the phone and dialed. The line was picked up instantly.

          "This is Agent Lawrence," I explained. "We have made affirmation."

          "You're early."

          "I hadn't noticed, sir."

          "We'll meet at the British Museum in two hours."

          "That's fine." I hung up just as quickly and almost instantly a Trevor Hale quip sprang to mind. "You're going to get hurt? So what? Have a beautiful train wreck."