A/N- Thanks for all the reviews guys! I wrote this chapter, and my sister wrote chapter 3! Enjoy! The lyrics are from Liz Phair's "Fever."

Fever

~*~

Lying wide awake in the dark

Trying to figure out where you are

Always going nowhere

Afraid of going somewhere

Somewhere's a place in your heart

~*~

"All right, everyone. I know it's Monday, but we have a lot of work to do." Jack said, ending the CTU office meeting by standing and starting to collect his papers.



Casual conversation filled the air as everyone filed out and back to their desks. Nina stood up, her fists clenched slightly. Jack had been ignoring her all morning. She was getting so tired of this- Nina had absolutely no clue what to expect from him; he reacted to her differently every time they spoke.



"Nina?" Tony's voice jolted her out of her reverie.



"Yes?" She looked up at him, disinterested.



"You are aware the meeting's over. That means you can leave." Tony said, grinning slightly.



Nina had no patience for him this morning. She rolled her eyes, getting up and going to walk past him, but he could not take a hint apparently.



"Is everything okay? You've seemed really distracted all morning." He asked, his voice annoyingly concerned.



"Tony, I'm fine. Don't you have work to do?" She said, waving a hand dismissively.



Tony looked a little hurt.



"Yeah…I guess I do." He shuffled out of the room like a little puppy who'd been kicked. Nina sighed heavily. Tony was attractive and everything, but he was nothing compared to…well, she wasn't even going to think about him. She was tired of thinking about him so much.



She left the conference room, and decided to get some coffee. She hadn't got much sleep last night- and again, she blamed Jack. He'd been so drunk she was surprised he even remembered her name.



Nina went to the coffee maker, hating the silence of the empty room. She just wanted to get back to work on some faceless new nemesis, get her mind off the reality of her life for a while and deal with her much easier role as a stalwart government employee. Suddenly, someone was behind her, his hand on her arm, his lips inches away from her ear.



"I think Tony likes you."



"I'm shocked you noticed." She turned around in his arms to face Jack, her posture rigid against his touch.



"Look, I'm sorry about last night."



"I thought you might say that." She shook her head, twisting away from him and pouring herself a coffee cup.



Jack moved next to her.



"Nina, I meant what I said-"



"No, you didn't." She cut him off irately.



"Why would I lie to you?" Jack looked at her.



Nina set the cup down angrily, suddenly looking at him,



"You know, Jack, I have no idea! Why don't you tell me why one minute you're telling me you love me and then the next minute you act like I don't even exist?" Nina snapped, her voice a harsh whisper.



Suddenly, the door to room opened, and Tony peeked in. He could tell he had interrupted something, but couldn't really tell what. Nina and Jack were standing very close together, and both looked really pissed off. But that was about all he could gather. Weird.



"Uh-Jack? Jamie wanted to show you something from that new flight report." Tony said, feeling a little awkward.



"Tell him I'll be right there." Jack said, obviously distracted.



Tony nodded, still standing there.



"Anything else?" Nina said, her voice a lot colder than she meant it to be.



"No." Tony said, looking at them quizzically.



Jack and Nina stared at him expectantly.



"So…I'll just go." Tony said slowly, closing the door behind him.



They were left alone again. Nina crossed her arms.



"Better go check on that flight report."



"Nina, I really am sorry."



"Please, Jack. You don't even know what you're apologizing for."



Jack sighed, grabbing her upper arms and forcing her to look at him.



"I'm sorry for the way I've treated you. You deserve better. And I'll make it up to you if you give me the chance."



Nina looked at him skeptically.



"Oh, really? And how do you plan on doing that?"



Jack smiled slightly.



"Two tickets to Santa Barbara. This weekend. We can get away for a while, and neither of us can even mention work. Just you and me." He whispered, waiting for reaction.



Nina rolled her eyes, smiling.



"You actually expect me to go for that? Throw a nice vacation at me and all is forgiven?"



"I was hoping you might." Jack said, tucking a strand of her dark hair behind her ear.



"Yeah, well, twist my arm…" She laughed, kissing him.



Jack, relieved not to be fighting anymore, deepened the kiss and forgot for a moment that they were at work. Nina wrapped her arms around his neck, remembering but not really caring that they were at work. Everybody else was busy with that flight report; they had a little time.



Out of habit, she began to undo his tie as Jack slid her jacket off her shoulders. Suddenly, the door opened again. This time, it was George, looking at them with a bemused expression on his face.



"Really, you two, put a sock on the door." He grinned.



Jack quickly untangled himself from her, fixing his tie and looking nonchalant.



"Something you needed, George?" He said, as Nina tried to retain her dignity while picking her jacket off from the floor.



"Jamie's about to have a coronary about something in the flight reports. She just asked me to come remind you. But you know, you seem a little busy, I'm sure the fate of the free world can wait." George shrugged.



"I'll be right there." Jack nodded, speaking in his most businesslike tone.



"I'll tell her. Oh, and, hey Nina." He smiled slightly at Nina, standing behind Jack.



"Hello, George." She practically mumbled.



Still laughing to himself, he left.



"All right, we do need to get away for awhile." Nina grinned at him.



"If we don't get fired first." Jack said, looking after George.



"Oh, come on. George doesn't really care, and no one else knows," she kissed him quickly, turning to leave, "I'll see you later."



Jack just nodded, smiling at her.



She smiled back, and left the room, forgetting all about her coffee.

~*~

A/N- On to ch. 3!