Disclaimer- I forgot this the first time. Oops! 24 and Kiefer (unfortunately) is not mine. Enjoy!

Counting the Cost

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Chapter Two

Forging a New Alliance

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Jack parked his car in the dimly lit parking lot. He kept waiting for a feeling of foreboding, but it never came. He knew this was his only choice. And Jack was the kind of man who refused to see a solution and not take it.



He was doing the right thing. He was doing the only thing he could. He kept telling himself that as he slowly walked towards Room 312. The image of Kim in his mind cemented his resolve, and he knocked twice on the door.



Nina answered the door in a black wife beater and black underwear.



Jack blinked, looking at her for some explanation.



"You're early." She shrugged, with a slight, sly smile that irritated him.



Jack still didn't say anything.



"Come in."



Jack closed the door behind him as Nina finished getting dressed.



"Before we get started," she perched on the edge of the bed as he sat in the nearby chair, "I need to make sure I can trust you."



Visions of what had happened in Mexico flashed unbidden through Jack's mind.



"Nina, I don't think-"



"Don't worry, Jack. No more pity make-out sessions. I wouldn't torture you like that." She said sarcastically.



"What do you want me to do?"



"Take off your shirt." Nina said with perfect seriousness.



"Excuse me?"



"If you're bugged, I really don't feel like telling you anything."



Jack sighed, unbuttoning his shirt and tossing it on the ground. Nina smiled that same strange smile again.



"You look good, Jack." She grinned slightly, noticeably looking him up and down.



Jack looked at her steadily.



"Now do you believe me?"



"Almost." She stood up, stepping well into his personal space.



"Nina, I don't have time for this."



"Well, you're not really the one with the information here, so I'd say it's pretty much my decision how this goes." She grinned.



"Fine. What now?"



Nina felt him for weapons, and nodded in approval when she was done.



"So you're not packing. That doesn't seem very Jack-like."



"I'm telling the truth about CTU, Nina. They sentenced Kim to death. I can't work for a government that would allow that."



She looked at him carefully.



"But you can work with the woman who killed your wife?"



Jack looked down for a moment.



"If necessary. I'll do anything for my daughter."



"Aww, how touching." Nina said sarcastically, patting him on the arm and sitting back on the bed.



"Nina, please, I really don't have time to waste here."



"Well, Jack, it's not like I just have the antidote hidden in my bra or anything. It's going to take some work to get it."



"How long will it take?" Jack asked her, sitting down again.



"Maybe a week. Maybe a month. It's contingent on a lot of things that neither of us have any control over. Something important though- do you still have CTU access privileges?"



"Yes. I never officially resigned, so as far as they know, I'm still an employee."



"Well, that's good. We know CTU's not that efficient at catching moles," Nina smiled wryly, "So I'm sure it will be no problem to lift some information through your server about the virus."



Jack ignored the dig about his ignorance of her when she was his partner.



"I'm sure it won't be a problem."



"Good. Tomorrow morning, get all the information you can before they realize you're there."



"About what?"



"About a woman. Amanda Williams."



Jack looked at her in shock.



"The woman who tried to kill the president?" Jack said, remembering Palmer's suspicions about the beautiful woman who had nearly killed him by shaking his hand. Many people had come in contact with the President, so he couldn't be certain, but he distinctly told Jack a description that matched Amanda Williams, a seeming criminal for hire who was willing to do anything for a little cash.



"That was always just your theory, Jack. And she's innocent until proven guilty in my opinion. But anyway- she has quite a criminal record on her, as I'm sure you remember from her destruction of the aircraft. But right now, she's just as free as I am, just much busier. She and Amador were close. I believe he told her the location of the antidote. We find her, we find the antidote."



Jack looked skeptical.



"So all you've basically got is a hunch?"



Nina raised her eyebrows.



"Oh, what leads do you have, Jack? Please, enlighten me."



"Fine. Amanda Williams. I'll bring any information I find tomorrow."



Nina smiled sweetly, but with a slight derisiveness.



"I can hardly wait."



They sat there in silence for a moment. Jack looked at her, stretched out on the bed, her long dark hair drying in loose curls, her stomach showing slightly as she put both hands behind her head.



"I thought you were leaving." She finally broke the silence, snapping Jack out of a very strange trance that terrified him with its implications.



"Thank you for your assistance." Jack said in his most businesslike voice, going to leave.



"Anytime, Agent Bauer," Nina saluted him, speaking in a voice mockingly reminiscent of his own.



"I'm not Agent Bauer. I'm never going to be again."



Nina looked up at him.



"If I find out you're lying to me, I'm gone. And you lose any chance of finding an antidote for your precious daughter."



"I know that. I'll be back tomorrow."



"I'm counting the hours. Good-bye, Jack."



Jack nodded, stepping out of the hotel room brusquely and closing the door behind him.

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A/N- Until Ch. 3! Please review!