The following occurs between the hours of 3:00 a.m. - 4:00 a.m.

3:00 a.m.

The black van drives down a dirt road leading to a ranch house. To the left of the road is a big red barn. The van passenger, Nina Myers, gets out of the van and opens the two big doors to the barn, and the van pulls through them. When the van clears the two doors Nina closes them. She waited for the van to stop than she opened the back doors. Jack was still unconscious and the man who he head butted sat in the back holding his nose that gushed blood.

"I think the bastard broke my nose." The man said as he kicked Jack in the back.

"That's enough damn it. The boss doesn't want him hurt. Take him downstairs and stick him in the interrogation room. Make sure you secure him to something. You know how dangerous he can be." Nina ordered as she thought about why she always got stuck with idiots.

The man grabbed Jack's legs and pulled him out of the van by them. Jacks head bounced of the bumper of the van. As his head bounced off the bumper he let out a groan. Slowly he was coming back to consciousness. He heard Nina's orders and his head was slowly clearing. The man picked Jack up and carried him down the stairs. He struggled trying to carry Jack and walk down the steps at the same time.

When he reached the bottom of the stairs he looked in both directions trying to remember which direction the interrogation room was. Going to the right he found the room. In the room there was a small twin mattress on the concrete floor, a light fixture with metal grating over it, a table, and a metal pipe that was secured to the ceiling. The pipe ran down the length of the room in the middle. He threw Jack on the twin mattress and secured his feet with a chain with cuffs on the end of it, to a pipe that stuck out of the wall at the foot of the mattress. Leaving the room he locked the deadbolt from the outside and went to tend to his broken nose.

Nina came down a few moments later and ordered another guy to stand guard outside the room. She gave the man her keys and had him unlock the door for her to go in, and ordered him to lock the door as soon as she got into the room. This way if Jack somehow got the upper hand on her she would not have to worry about him getting out. She had talked to Treadstone a few moments earlier and he ordered her to watch Jack until he got there, which should be within the hour.

When she walked into the room she took a seat on the table. She did not want to sit on any of the chairs because God only knows what has gone on in those chairs. Jack was not the first person to ever visit this room. She hoped never to have to be on the other side in the room. People who entered this room as the tortured never left the same if they left it at all.

Jack eyes opened and his muscles tightened with pain. He coughed and tried to focus his eyes. When his eyes finally focused he saw Nina sitting on the table looking at him. His mind tried to remember how he got here, and than it all came back to him as if the flood gates had just burst open.

"Welcome back Jack. How are things with Kim?"

The thought of Nina asking about Kim angered him and he tried not to show it, but he was sore and pissed off, "You have no right to ask about Kim. Leave her out of this."

"Fine. What do you want to talk about we have a sometime to waste before the man gets here?"

"Do we have to talk or can we just sit here in silence. I don't much feel like talking to the woman that killed my wife."

"Yeah. Guess will talk than. You know it wasn't all of my fault your wife go killed. You left her with me, and because of that she heard things she shouldn't have of. If you would have just done what Victor wanted your wife would still be alive. You wouldn't be, but your wife would have been. You choose to live, and by doing that you killed your wife."

Jacks face flushed to a bright red. He has told himself the same time many of times, but hearing it from Nina made him want to kill her and everyone else. It unlocked the primitive side of his brain and all he wanted to do was kill Nina in the most painful way he could think of and knowing himself and his ability to inflect pain it would be painful.

"I didn't kill her you did Nina. And when you did you hurt my daughter. You have to live with the fact that not only did you kill Teri but you killed a piece of Kim."

"You forgot you Jack. Remember how happy you were before. When was the last time you were happy Jack?"

"The day before you killed my wife."

"You shouldn't of taken it so personal. I only killed her because she would have compromised my exit. I did not want to hurt you; you just took it so damn personal."

Jack sat in silence. He would not talk again. Anger ran through his body and memory of him holding his dead wife flashed into his mind. He hated this memory. He had lost it with the help of heroin, but now that he was off that the memory haunted him. He had not slept an entire night through since the day Teri died. Sometimes he would wake up and he would have tears streaming down his face. He never told anyone that, and probably never would. The only person who ever knew about it was Kate because she witnessed it one night when he stayed over at her house but he would always blame it on something else. She probably knew the real reason, but she never let on.

3:10
Michelle watched the video tape from LAX. She did not think she would find much about the guy who left Jacks stuff there. There were so many people in and out of the place every day pinning down the exact time he dropped the stuff off was going to be hard. She had a general time of arrival, but that was not a big help. She finally found the spot in which someone opened the locker. He had a hat on and his back turned to the camera. She slowed the tape down and watched it again. She could not see the man face. He was a bigger man, but that is all she could see from the tape. The FAA flight plans were a bust, and the pilot did call in for landing and take off, but no idea where the plane was going, or had gone. Jack was on his own it seemed unless a miracle occurred.

************************************************************************

The Boeing 747 started its descent into the Mexican desert. The pilot intended on landing on the highway, lettings it's occupants out, and than flying to the big airport in Mexico City. He knew who his boss was, and the fact that he was working for the creator of Treadstone did not bother him. He had fought in many wars for his country and each time he lost more faith in his country, and it hit bottom when they elected David Palmer as president. The man was not smart enough to be president. That is when the pilot left the country for a new.

Treadstone walked down the stairs of his private plane. If you had told him as a child he would be where he was now, he would have laughed. Growing up in communist Russia he had watched his father being murdered by a General who later raped his mother and stole him and raised him as if he were his own son. The General taught him many things about life and power. When he first got his organization together he made sure he killed the General. He took a month of torturing him to kill him. That got him his reputation as a man not to mess with. No one knew his real name anymore. Everyone referred to him by his organization name Treadstone, after the secret agency in his favorite book the Bourne Identity. He saw the new movie of the book and thought about how horrible American entertainment had become.

As he walked to the car his began to focus on the man he was getting ready to deal with. Jack Bauer intrigued him. In some ways he respected the man. He had gone through so much and always came out of it. He wondered if Jack would survive this one. And laughed to himself because it was all up to him. He loved choosing peoples fates. The car sped off to the ranch house as Treadstone contemplated how he would break Jack Bauer. He too could do the impossible.

3:35

Kim was sure something was wrong with her father. She knew Tony went to brief Chappell and the President. That never happened, and Michelle was working on something she would not share with anyone. When Tony walked into CTU Kim ran up to him and began to question him.

"Tony, what's happening with my father? I know he is not on the protection detail for the president because he is not registered to fly on Air Force One nor does he have a ticket to China. What is going on? Is he in trouble?"

"Follow me to my office Kim and I will fill you in on the details." Tony said knowing he could not hide the fact that Jack was indeed in trouble from Kim anymore. He need Chase and her help on finding Jack. The options were running out and so was time.

Once in his office Tony motioned for Kim to sit in a chair. "A few hours ago we got a call from someone. They had information that Treadstone was going to attack the United States very soon. They only wanted to meet with your father, and he had to be alone. They called with the details of where to meet and your father agreed to meet them. At the meeting spot they figured he was wired and had a tracer so they had him change clothes, give up his watch, and cell phone. After that we do not know what happened. We are sure he is still alive, but we do not know where he is at the moment."

"Who was the caller?"

"Kim. I don't think you should know this."

"Please Tony. It's my father. You know I can handle bad news how many times have you had to give it to me? Please."

"Nina Myers. We didn't just send him in blind though. We had others who said that Treadstone was going to attack the U.S. and that Nina had been known to associate with Treadstone. She was our only lead, and your father new that."

"That's why the president was here earlier. He asked my father to do this for him?"

"Yes. But he gave your father the choice. He knows the past and did not want to have your father do it, but there was no other way we could think off. We never figured she would do what she did."

"The President knew when he asked he left my father no option. Do we have any leads on him?"

"Not that I know off. If you want see if Michelle needs any help with the stuff she is working on. Tell her I've told you. We'll find him Kim. You know that right?"

3:45

Jack lay on the mattress trying to find a way out of the current situation. Right now everything looked bleak. He could not free his hands or his feet, and Nina knew him to well to give him any sort of opportunity. He cursed himself for taking this assignment. He should have told everyone to fuck off, but that wasn't him. He was scared, but he did not let it show. This was the first time he had ever really felt like he might not make it.

The door opened and a tall man with blonde hair walked into the room. In a thick Russian ascent the man said, "Hello Jack. I've been waiting to meet you. I truly am an admire of your work. Nina has told me some of the details I have not known about you. I hope everyone has treated you well. Nina go get Chris in here. Tell him well need some rope and his usual supplies. Now Jack I do admire you, but you have some information I want and I plan to get it. I know you won't just tell me, even if I ask real nice, so I planned ahead."

Jack did not reply. He only glared at the guy. His eyes showing no emotion, they were dead. Kate once told him when he had this look on his face he seemed very scary. Almost like a cold blooded killer. What she didn't understand is that is what he was trained to be originally, but in the past few years he had tried to get away from it because he did not enjoy doing it, and his past haunted him like his dead wife. All the people he has killed sometimes haunt him at night when he tries to sleep. He has never told anyone this even Teri never knew. She use to make the images go away, but she no longer was around she had become one of the many images in his mind. Even the heroin didn't stop the images.

As the thought occurred to him a short man walked into the room with Nina. Nina was pushing a cart. Jack couldn't see what was on it, but he was sure it wasn't anything he would like. The man had had rope in his hand. He threaded an end through the pipe in the ceiling and motioned for Nina to get Jack.

Nina uncuffed his feet first and than his hands. As soon as his hands were free he went to fight with Nina. He swung has hard as he could knocking Nina to the floor. The short man came at him and Jack ducked away to block a punch which he returned with a left punch to the abdomen, which knocked the wind out of his opponent, and than a elbow in the back of the short man who fell to the floor. Treadstone came at Jack quicker than a man his size should. Jack blocked the first punch, but did not have enough time to block the second one which connected with his the right side of his head, stunning him for a moment before he tried to attack Treadstone again. But Treadstone was ready. He blocked Jacks punch and sweep kick. Returning them with a punch, which Jack deflected but before Jack could bring his arm back to block again Treadstone punched Jack with all his might in the abdomen. The punch knocked the wind out of Jack who tried to catch his breath. When he finally looked up again Treadstone had his gun pulled out pointed at Jack. "Now Jack I think that is enough of this. We both know you can't escape this room. You had to try and you were not successful."

The short man came up behind Jack and pushed the tazer in his had to the lower left of Jacks back. The shock sent Jack to the floor, he was unable to move. With the help of Nina the short man lifted Jack and tied his hands together with the rope he had threaded through the pipe earlier.

Hanging from the rope Jack could feel it dig into his skin. He remembered this feeling all to well from the last time he hung from his hands from a rope. Adrenaline rushed through his body as he prepared for a long hard night.

The short man, Jack figured was Mike, took a long knife off that cart Nina rolled in and cut Jack's shirt off, only nicking Jack once on purpose. Jack's breaths were coming quicker because of the adrenaline running through him. His heart was racing. He was afraid his heart might pop out of his chest. The last time it was beating this fast was when he had his heart attack. It had been a few years since and the doctors said he gained 99 percent of his heart muscle back and as long as he keep his cholesterol down he should be fine. He did not have normal heart attack, it was not because of his blocked arteries, it was drug induced so the damage was much less and easier to repair.

3:57
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3:59