The following occurs between 5:00 and 6:00 a.m. The events occur in
somewhat real time.
5:00 a.m.
"Chase, see if you can find a satellite that was photographing that area around the time the plane landed. You might want to contact immigration they would know if there was one around that time." Tony ordered. "Where going to find him." Tony said mostly for himself. He and Jack in the beginning didn't see eye to eye, but after the past few years events he has gained respect for Jack. He knew the world needs Jack Bauer. He got the impossible done. No one was willing to sacrifices as much as he did.
Chase walked down the steps to the main floor of CTU. He told Kim that they had a good lead, and asked her for help calling the different places that could possibly have a satellite taking pictures over that part of the Mexico-U.S. border.
5:05 a.m.
"Common Jack tell me what you know about Treadstone? It's early in the day we don't want to have to do this forever do we. Do you really want to see how long you can hold your breath for? Cuz I'm not really interested in finding out, but if we have to. You know Nina is sitting there enjoying you going through this torment. You are pleasing her by doing this. You are making the woman who killed your wife happy Jack? What do you think your wife would say about that?" Chris said, trying to get into Jacks mind and break him down.
"Don't bri-i-n-n-g-g Teri" gasping for breath and lips trembling from the cold, "into this." Jack said through clenched teeth and trembling lips. Jacks lips were changing colors they were almost blue now.
"Fine Jack your choice." Chris said as he pushed Jacks head back into the cold water. After five minutes he pulled Jacks head up.
As his head emerged from the water Jack spit up water and began to cough uncontrollably.
"Ok enough of the water for now." Treadstone order as he could see the color in Jacks faces had drained.
"Help me put him on the table." The man ordered Nina.
Together they struggled to pick Jacks tense trembling body off the floor to put him on the table. If Jack had the energy he would have tried to fight, he was colder than he had ever been in his life. He could feel himself slowly giving in. Each time it was harder not to say anything. He knew he was reaching his limit. He just wasn't sure how long it would take.
The short man grasped the knife off the cart and looked at Jack. "Jack what do you know about Treadstone? I don't really want to have to start cutting, I'm not really good at it, but you have to give me something to stop."
Jack looked at him. He couldn't muster the strength to glare. He was still trembling and if laughing would not have caused pain he would have laughed at the situation. Here he was trembling for the first time in his life, but not from fear instead from being freezing cold.
Nina broke in, "Damn it Jack. How much to you have to go through before you will see it's not worth it. Nothing is worth this. Even you know that. What are you fighting for? The country that turned its back on you after you struggled to save your family. Yeah you broke protocol but you were trying to not only save your families life, the presidents, and stop Victor Drazen. Or are you fighting for the country that didn't even thank you after you saved them from a nuclear bomb. You suffered through torture to save them, and you died for them. Or what about the country that asked you to go undercover with the Salazars where you lost a piece of your soul. The soul that you had lost most of already when your wife died. Is it the country that turned its back on you when they found out you had a drug problem? Is it worth it Jack? Is it worth the nights were you wake up in a cold sweat because of all the people you have killed for your country haunt you, and now your wife who you feel guilty for her death haunts you. Is it worth it Jack?" Nina yelled trying to get through to him. She knew she hit something because he did not make eye contact with her nor did he answer her. He just lay on the table and closed his eyes.
Chris took the knife and inserted it an inch into Jacks lower left abdomen area. Jack screamed out in pain. The man did it three more times before he set the bloody knife down. "I told you I was bad with the knife it took me four times to get it right." He said smiling to himself. He went to the door and asked the guard loud enough so that Jack could hear it, "I need a gallon of gasoline, and a cup of butter melted. Get me the gas first."
"Yes sir", the man answered.
"Jack you're not looking so well. Here let me try something." Chris said as he stuck his fingers into one of the inch long and inch deep incisions. Jack screamed in pain gasping for breath. His mind could not focus on anything but the pain.
The guard returned with a milk jug full of gasoline. "Thank you." Chris said to the guard. He walked over to Jack on the table and said, "Now this is going to sting." He took the cap off the milk jug and poured out the gasoline all over Jacks lower abdomen. The gas seeped into the cuts and burned like someone was sticking red hot pokers in him. Jack screamed in pain and his eyes bulged. The pain did not subside when the man stopped pouring. It increased with the oxygen pulling into the wounds.
"Jack tell me what you know about Treadstone?"
Jack couldn't hold on any longer. The pain was killing him and in truth who was he holding out for. Would they thank him if he made it out alive?
"Jack tell me what you know or I'll have my friend go get your daughter, Kim. I don't think she'll like this as much as you seem to.
5:30
The Chief of staff sat in the CTU conference room wondering why he was put on such an unimportant matter. Jack Bauer was an agent and while his being captured was a horrible thing, why was CTU only focusing on that. There was possible threat and half of the staff was running down leads as to where Jack Bauer was. He had asked the president and the president got mad at him. He knew the president was letting his feelings for Jack Bauer cloud his judgment. He had called the president every hour like he was suppose to and he reported on what has happened. What very little has happened in the time since he last called.
"Mr. President. We have a possible way to track Mr. Bauer. They are hoping to catch him on a satellite. They know where the plane landed and they know Nina Myers was there. They have talked to the pilot and he has described some of the people he encountered. There should be drawling of them in a few hours. None of them, we believe, were the leader of Treadstone. We are not even sure if this has anything to do with Treadstone. Mr. President I think we are not going about this the right way sir. We are putting all our hope that Jack will not only escape, but know what Treadstone is up to. I think we should divert most of our attention to trying to figure out what Treadstone is up to?"
"And how are we going to figure that out?" Palmer asked in a harsh tone.
"I don't know sir."
"That's correct we don't know. We have no resources that can tell us exactly what is going to happen besides Nina Myers. And she has Jack Bauer. He is our only lead right now to knowing what Treadstone is planning. That is why all of our resources are in finding him, and Nina Myers. This is not just because Jack is my friend and America owes him a lot."
5:35 a.m.
Jack gasped for breath. He couldn't clear his head enough to think about what the man had said. He wanted to quit tell them what they wanted, he had no reason to hold out Nina was right, but he never quit. Though the problem was he didn't know if there was a real threat to Kim. He was willing to allow them to hurt him, but he would not sacrifice Kim, he would not chance it. She has gone through so much, and he was not going to make her go through more. He gasped again. He than opened his mouth and the words began to poor out.
"I'll tell you what we know about Treadstone." Jack said as the man walked over to the table with the matches that were on the tray.
"What do you know?" Treadstone asked eagerly. He never thought this would have happened. Everyone does have a breaking point, but he wasn't so sure about it with Jack.
Gasping for air after every other word Jack managed to say, "You have . . . to leave . . . my daughter alone. . . She has . . . nothing to do . . . with this."
"We will tell me what you know?" Treadstone said now standing over Jack.
"It's an organization . . . that is uniting . . . terrorist groups together. The leader . . . the leader is . . . is unknown man."
"Is that it?" The short man asked.
"That's all we know . . . I swear."
"How did you get that information?"
"I don't . . . know our sources. I'm . . . I'm only. . . field ops not information."
"He's telling the truth he wouldn't know incase of something like this occurred." Nina confirmed.
"There has to be more than that. They have to have sources. They would not send him down here on your word." Treadstone said.
"Even if there was information about us meeting Jack would not know where it came from. They do not give that information to Field Ops. and he is no longer the director of CTU. He would not have this information." Nina didn't know why she was standing up for Jack. She should have kept her mouth shut and let them torture him more he deserved it all. Because of all the times he's tortured people and all the times he has brought their family into it. His family deserved the same. But at the same time she remembered Kim before all of it. When she was happy and how much she meant to Jack. Nina remembered the nights her and Jack spent together while he and Teri were separated. His tender loving touch and the ecstasy of him being in her all flooded back to her memory. She knew how much Kim meant to Jack and she could hurt Jack, but she could not hurt Kim; she was innocent. On top of it all she knew he had to be down if he had broke and told them the information. She knew believed, for the most part, never kick a man when he was down, and Jack had to be down low right now to give in.
"Fine. I'll accept it for now. Put him on the mattress. Well do something with him later. Nina give me your gun. Your going to stay in here and watch him." Treadstone ordered.
Reluctantly Nina handed over her gun to the powerful man. She didn't like the idea of giving it up. Nor did she like the idea of being locked in the room with Jack. Something was wrong with the situation, and she believed that when they were going to get rid of Jack she was going to join him in the same dirt hole. The thought of dying was not pleasing to her. She waited a few moments after they left and she walked over to Jack who was passed out now. She gently shook him to try to wake him. Than she grabbed his rib cage with one hand and covered his mouth with another. He let out a scream of pain that was muffled by her hand.
"Jack. Stay awake listen to me. We have to get out of here. They're going to kill both of us. And as much as I don't want to help you I need you to escape. They still think you know more, and I can use you to leave. Can you stand up?"
Jack looked at her. He saw the fear in her eyes and enjoyed it. If he was going to die he wanted to die knowing he killed Nina, and if that meant sacrificing himself that was fine. "F**K you Nina."
"Jack you might want to join your dead wife, but I don't." She knew when she said that it was the wrong thing. Angered flashed through Jacks face and in his eyes there was pure hatred that made them seem to glow. "Sorry. You don't want to make Kim have to live without a father do you? Do you really want to give up and let all of those people die? I know what they are planning. If you help me get out of here I'll tell you in exchanged for letting me leave."
Jack knew she was right. He had to get up to save the world again. They wouldn't even let him give up after they have taken everything from him. Jack whispered, "I can't move with the rope on."
Nina began to try to untie the rope. She could see the pain in Jacks eyes as she pulled the rope out of his skin, as it had embedded itself in it from the weight of his hanging and the tightness of the rope around his hands. When she got it off she said, "Ok. They aren't just going to open the door for me. Can you fake something? A heart attack or something."
Jack looked at her and than started to go into convulsions as if he were having a seizures.
Nina went to the door and began to bang on it screaming, "Open the fucking door. Something's wrong with him. He is convulsing I think he is having a reaction to the venom. If you don't open the door he's going to die and Treadstone is going to kill you for that. This man still has information he wants." 5:57 5:58 5:59
5:00 a.m.
"Chase, see if you can find a satellite that was photographing that area around the time the plane landed. You might want to contact immigration they would know if there was one around that time." Tony ordered. "Where going to find him." Tony said mostly for himself. He and Jack in the beginning didn't see eye to eye, but after the past few years events he has gained respect for Jack. He knew the world needs Jack Bauer. He got the impossible done. No one was willing to sacrifices as much as he did.
Chase walked down the steps to the main floor of CTU. He told Kim that they had a good lead, and asked her for help calling the different places that could possibly have a satellite taking pictures over that part of the Mexico-U.S. border.
5:05 a.m.
"Common Jack tell me what you know about Treadstone? It's early in the day we don't want to have to do this forever do we. Do you really want to see how long you can hold your breath for? Cuz I'm not really interested in finding out, but if we have to. You know Nina is sitting there enjoying you going through this torment. You are pleasing her by doing this. You are making the woman who killed your wife happy Jack? What do you think your wife would say about that?" Chris said, trying to get into Jacks mind and break him down.
"Don't bri-i-n-n-g-g Teri" gasping for breath and lips trembling from the cold, "into this." Jack said through clenched teeth and trembling lips. Jacks lips were changing colors they were almost blue now.
"Fine Jack your choice." Chris said as he pushed Jacks head back into the cold water. After five minutes he pulled Jacks head up.
As his head emerged from the water Jack spit up water and began to cough uncontrollably.
"Ok enough of the water for now." Treadstone order as he could see the color in Jacks faces had drained.
"Help me put him on the table." The man ordered Nina.
Together they struggled to pick Jacks tense trembling body off the floor to put him on the table. If Jack had the energy he would have tried to fight, he was colder than he had ever been in his life. He could feel himself slowly giving in. Each time it was harder not to say anything. He knew he was reaching his limit. He just wasn't sure how long it would take.
The short man grasped the knife off the cart and looked at Jack. "Jack what do you know about Treadstone? I don't really want to have to start cutting, I'm not really good at it, but you have to give me something to stop."
Jack looked at him. He couldn't muster the strength to glare. He was still trembling and if laughing would not have caused pain he would have laughed at the situation. Here he was trembling for the first time in his life, but not from fear instead from being freezing cold.
Nina broke in, "Damn it Jack. How much to you have to go through before you will see it's not worth it. Nothing is worth this. Even you know that. What are you fighting for? The country that turned its back on you after you struggled to save your family. Yeah you broke protocol but you were trying to not only save your families life, the presidents, and stop Victor Drazen. Or are you fighting for the country that didn't even thank you after you saved them from a nuclear bomb. You suffered through torture to save them, and you died for them. Or what about the country that asked you to go undercover with the Salazars where you lost a piece of your soul. The soul that you had lost most of already when your wife died. Is it the country that turned its back on you when they found out you had a drug problem? Is it worth it Jack? Is it worth the nights were you wake up in a cold sweat because of all the people you have killed for your country haunt you, and now your wife who you feel guilty for her death haunts you. Is it worth it Jack?" Nina yelled trying to get through to him. She knew she hit something because he did not make eye contact with her nor did he answer her. He just lay on the table and closed his eyes.
Chris took the knife and inserted it an inch into Jacks lower left abdomen area. Jack screamed out in pain. The man did it three more times before he set the bloody knife down. "I told you I was bad with the knife it took me four times to get it right." He said smiling to himself. He went to the door and asked the guard loud enough so that Jack could hear it, "I need a gallon of gasoline, and a cup of butter melted. Get me the gas first."
"Yes sir", the man answered.
"Jack you're not looking so well. Here let me try something." Chris said as he stuck his fingers into one of the inch long and inch deep incisions. Jack screamed in pain gasping for breath. His mind could not focus on anything but the pain.
The guard returned with a milk jug full of gasoline. "Thank you." Chris said to the guard. He walked over to Jack on the table and said, "Now this is going to sting." He took the cap off the milk jug and poured out the gasoline all over Jacks lower abdomen. The gas seeped into the cuts and burned like someone was sticking red hot pokers in him. Jack screamed in pain and his eyes bulged. The pain did not subside when the man stopped pouring. It increased with the oxygen pulling into the wounds.
"Jack tell me what you know about Treadstone?"
Jack couldn't hold on any longer. The pain was killing him and in truth who was he holding out for. Would they thank him if he made it out alive?
"Jack tell me what you know or I'll have my friend go get your daughter, Kim. I don't think she'll like this as much as you seem to.
5:30
The Chief of staff sat in the CTU conference room wondering why he was put on such an unimportant matter. Jack Bauer was an agent and while his being captured was a horrible thing, why was CTU only focusing on that. There was possible threat and half of the staff was running down leads as to where Jack Bauer was. He had asked the president and the president got mad at him. He knew the president was letting his feelings for Jack Bauer cloud his judgment. He had called the president every hour like he was suppose to and he reported on what has happened. What very little has happened in the time since he last called.
"Mr. President. We have a possible way to track Mr. Bauer. They are hoping to catch him on a satellite. They know where the plane landed and they know Nina Myers was there. They have talked to the pilot and he has described some of the people he encountered. There should be drawling of them in a few hours. None of them, we believe, were the leader of Treadstone. We are not even sure if this has anything to do with Treadstone. Mr. President I think we are not going about this the right way sir. We are putting all our hope that Jack will not only escape, but know what Treadstone is up to. I think we should divert most of our attention to trying to figure out what Treadstone is up to?"
"And how are we going to figure that out?" Palmer asked in a harsh tone.
"I don't know sir."
"That's correct we don't know. We have no resources that can tell us exactly what is going to happen besides Nina Myers. And she has Jack Bauer. He is our only lead right now to knowing what Treadstone is planning. That is why all of our resources are in finding him, and Nina Myers. This is not just because Jack is my friend and America owes him a lot."
5:35 a.m.
Jack gasped for breath. He couldn't clear his head enough to think about what the man had said. He wanted to quit tell them what they wanted, he had no reason to hold out Nina was right, but he never quit. Though the problem was he didn't know if there was a real threat to Kim. He was willing to allow them to hurt him, but he would not sacrifice Kim, he would not chance it. She has gone through so much, and he was not going to make her go through more. He gasped again. He than opened his mouth and the words began to poor out.
"I'll tell you what we know about Treadstone." Jack said as the man walked over to the table with the matches that were on the tray.
"What do you know?" Treadstone asked eagerly. He never thought this would have happened. Everyone does have a breaking point, but he wasn't so sure about it with Jack.
Gasping for air after every other word Jack managed to say, "You have . . . to leave . . . my daughter alone. . . She has . . . nothing to do . . . with this."
"We will tell me what you know?" Treadstone said now standing over Jack.
"It's an organization . . . that is uniting . . . terrorist groups together. The leader . . . the leader is . . . is unknown man."
"Is that it?" The short man asked.
"That's all we know . . . I swear."
"How did you get that information?"
"I don't . . . know our sources. I'm . . . I'm only. . . field ops not information."
"He's telling the truth he wouldn't know incase of something like this occurred." Nina confirmed.
"There has to be more than that. They have to have sources. They would not send him down here on your word." Treadstone said.
"Even if there was information about us meeting Jack would not know where it came from. They do not give that information to Field Ops. and he is no longer the director of CTU. He would not have this information." Nina didn't know why she was standing up for Jack. She should have kept her mouth shut and let them torture him more he deserved it all. Because of all the times he's tortured people and all the times he has brought their family into it. His family deserved the same. But at the same time she remembered Kim before all of it. When she was happy and how much she meant to Jack. Nina remembered the nights her and Jack spent together while he and Teri were separated. His tender loving touch and the ecstasy of him being in her all flooded back to her memory. She knew how much Kim meant to Jack and she could hurt Jack, but she could not hurt Kim; she was innocent. On top of it all she knew he had to be down if he had broke and told them the information. She knew believed, for the most part, never kick a man when he was down, and Jack had to be down low right now to give in.
"Fine. I'll accept it for now. Put him on the mattress. Well do something with him later. Nina give me your gun. Your going to stay in here and watch him." Treadstone ordered.
Reluctantly Nina handed over her gun to the powerful man. She didn't like the idea of giving it up. Nor did she like the idea of being locked in the room with Jack. Something was wrong with the situation, and she believed that when they were going to get rid of Jack she was going to join him in the same dirt hole. The thought of dying was not pleasing to her. She waited a few moments after they left and she walked over to Jack who was passed out now. She gently shook him to try to wake him. Than she grabbed his rib cage with one hand and covered his mouth with another. He let out a scream of pain that was muffled by her hand.
"Jack. Stay awake listen to me. We have to get out of here. They're going to kill both of us. And as much as I don't want to help you I need you to escape. They still think you know more, and I can use you to leave. Can you stand up?"
Jack looked at her. He saw the fear in her eyes and enjoyed it. If he was going to die he wanted to die knowing he killed Nina, and if that meant sacrificing himself that was fine. "F**K you Nina."
"Jack you might want to join your dead wife, but I don't." She knew when she said that it was the wrong thing. Angered flashed through Jacks face and in his eyes there was pure hatred that made them seem to glow. "Sorry. You don't want to make Kim have to live without a father do you? Do you really want to give up and let all of those people die? I know what they are planning. If you help me get out of here I'll tell you in exchanged for letting me leave."
Jack knew she was right. He had to get up to save the world again. They wouldn't even let him give up after they have taken everything from him. Jack whispered, "I can't move with the rope on."
Nina began to try to untie the rope. She could see the pain in Jacks eyes as she pulled the rope out of his skin, as it had embedded itself in it from the weight of his hanging and the tightness of the rope around his hands. When she got it off she said, "Ok. They aren't just going to open the door for me. Can you fake something? A heart attack or something."
Jack looked at her and than started to go into convulsions as if he were having a seizures.
Nina went to the door and began to bang on it screaming, "Open the fucking door. Something's wrong with him. He is convulsing I think he is having a reaction to the venom. If you don't open the door he's going to die and Treadstone is going to kill you for that. This man still has information he wants." 5:57 5:58 5:59
