A/N- Thanks for the reviews, guys! Usual disclaimers apply, the lyrics are from Garbage's "A Stroke of Luck."
Counting the Cost
~*~
Chapter Fourteen
Chains Meant to Break
~*~
Hanging by threads of palest silver
I could have stayed that way forever
Bad blood and ghosts wrapped tight around me
Nothing could ever seem to touch me
I lose what I love most
Did you know I was lost until you found me?
A stroke of luck or a gift from God?
The hand of fate or devil's claws?
From below or saints above?
You came to me
Here comes the cold again
I feel it closing in
It's falling down and
All around me falling
You say that you'll be there to catch me
Or will you only try to trap me
These are the rules I make
Our chains were meant to break
~*~
Jack scrambled through the side table's drawer, pulling out a flashlight and turning it on. A strong beam of light cut through the apartment.
"All my weapons are under my bed. Come on."
Jack grabbed Nina's arm, leading her towards his bedroom and quickly pulling out a large metal box underneath.
He handed her the flashlight, and she shined it on the box as Jack opened it.
It was the widest assortment of weapons she'd ever seen in a personal collection. It ranged from pistols to a grenade launcher.
"Are they loaded?" She asked, as he took a M-16.
"Yes." He said, handing her a shotgun.
"Jack…" She said, her voice shaking slightly.
He looked up into the beam of the flashlight, his eyes looking startlingly blue. He could barely even see her in the darkness.
"Nina, I'm not letting anything happen to you."
"Amador and Mandy…they do this for a living."
"So do we. You've got to focus, Nina."
She nodded, cocking the gun.
"Do you want to try to get out? The fire escape-" Jack said, putting extra clips into his pocket.
Suddenly, there were gunshots and screams in the outside hallway.
"There's no time." Nina said, her finger shaking slightly on the trigger as she pressed the gun against her shoulder and stepped back into the living room.
Jack caught her arm.
"You stay in the bedroom. They don't know for sure you're here with me."
"No, you need back-up."
"Just stand right by the door. If I need you, you'll know."
Nina looked up at him, suddenly struck with the realization that they were both probably going to die.
"It shouldn't end like this." She said in a choked whisper.
Jack looked back at her, his eyes full of an indiscernible emotion.
"It won't." He said softly.
Suddenly, there was a loud knock at their door.
"I have to go." Jack said, leaving the room quickly and closing the door behind him.
~*~
Nina pressed her ear against the door, every muscle in her body tensed.
She heard the door get kicked once…twice…and it was down.
"Jack Bauer…nice place you've got here." Nina heard Amador's distinctive voice.
"Yes, very tasteful." Mandy giggled.
"What do you want?" Jack stood up, not holding his gun as if to appear unaware.
"I think you know that." Amador said, smiling patronizingly.
"I wouldn't have asked." Jack countered.
"Okay, Jack, you want us to spell it out for you? Nina Myers. Where is she?" Mandy said, her cheery voice growing a little more serious.
"I have no idea."
"That's a lie." Mandy rolled her eyes.
"We know you've been in contact with her. We've heard everything, Jack, so don't try to bloody lie your way out of this!" Amador said, infuriated.
"We were in contact. She disappeared yesterday. I haven't heard from her since."
Amador and Mandy looked at each other.
"We don't believe you." Mandy said with crossed arms.
"Well, that's too bad." Jack shrugged.
"So you won't mind if we search your apartment?"
"Go right ahead." Jack said dismissively.
Nina's finger tensed on her trigger, ready behind the door.
"Mandy, darling, check over there. Jack, you come with me." Amador began to walk to the other side of the apartment, towards Kim's bedroom.
Mandy nodded, walking towards Jack's bedroom.
Mandy started to open the door, and Nina backed up carefully, hiding in the darkness the shadows provided.
She squinted to see in the darkness, searching around the room. She saw nothing, and proceeded to check in the bathroom. Nina pressed her back against the wall, getting ready.
Mandy opened her mouth to shout something to Amador, and all of a sudden, Nina grabbed her from behind, strangling her with her forearm, and holding the gun with the other.
"Hey, Evil Barbie, didn't you ever learn to check the corners first?" Nina smiled, feeling the old rush she got from being in total control of a situation.
Amanda fought to reach her gun, gasping for air. Nina spun her around, slamming her head into the wall and letting her drop to the ground, her gun pointed at her forehead.
"If you say a word to Amador, I'll shoot." Nina whispered.
"You're going to kill me anyway." Amanda said, her voice hoarse.
"Give me one good reason not to." Nina said through gritted teeth, pressing the barrel harder into Amanda's forehead.
"I'm sorry, Nina, please, I don't want to die." Mandy's eyes filled with tears as she suddenly reverted into her little girl persona.
"Believe me, Mandy…I'm doing you a favor. There's no other way to escape this life."
"So why don't you just kill yourself?" Mandy said, trying to find some kind of bargaining power.
"Because now I have something to live for." Nina said without any further explanation.
"What? Jack? He doesn't love you."
"Shut up." Nina said tightly.
"It's true. The world we live in, Nina, there's no love. There's just money and power and death." Mandy said softly.
"Well, then you're welcome." Nina said, preparing to shoot her.
Suddenly, there were other gunshots heard outside. Nina froze, giving Amanda enough time to kick her feet out from under her. Nina hit her head hard against the bedpost as she fell, slamming against the ground unconscious.
Amanda shakily got to her feet and went to go find Amador.
~*~
She walked through the apartment, but heard no noise. Finally, she walked into the bathroom in a mostly bare guest room after seeing the light was on.
"Amador?" She said tentatively.
Suddenly, the cold steel of a gun barrel was pressed against her temple.
"Hands on your head."
She complied.
"Get on your knees."
Amanda sank to her knees, looking up at Jack.
"Where's Amador?"
"He shot me in the arm and jumped out of the window onto the fire escape. I heard the car drive off. He abandoned you."
She looked up at Jack's profusely bleeding right forearm. He had already wrapped his button down shirt around it to apply pressure, and was wearing just a white wife beater.
"If you're going to kill me, just get it over with." She said in a small, girlish voice.
"Where's Nina?"
"I took care of her."
Jack pressed the gun harder against her skin.
"You killed her?" He said through gritted teeth.
Amanda didn't answer, just looking steadily ahead.
Jack pistol-whipped her ferociously, and she let out a cry as she fell to the ground, clutching her head.
"You bastard!" She whined.
"Is she dead?" He repeated.
"Why do you care?" Amanda looked up at him, honestly confused.
"I'm asking the questions. Did you kill her?"
"I don't understand you, Jack. Amador told me Nina killed your wife and, like, screwed over your little government agency. How can you even…I mean…"
"I don't need to explain myself to you. You're just a little girl who likes to pretend that all the destruction you cause has a purpose. So where do you get off accusing me of anything?" Jack looked at her angrily.
"I didn't accuse you."
"Get up." Jack ordered her.
Amanda complied.
"Call Amador. Tell him Nina's not here, and that you got me to talk. She's back in England. That's all you know." Jack ordered her.
Amanda nodded, picking up her phone and following his instructions.
"So what? You're just going to let me walk?" She looked at him quizzically.
"The police are already here. I doubt you'll get far." Jack said, looking out the window.
Amanda looked out the window as well, sighing heavily.
"I guess I'll just be going."
"Good luck." Jack said sarcastically.
"Thanks." She said with equal derision, jumping out the same window Amador had.
Jack was left alone in the bathroom, his arm throbbing unbearably. Suddenly, he was struck with the thought. He still didn't know if Nina was all right.
~*~
He raced into his bedroom, and saw her lying on the floor, a large gash on her right temple, and blood pooling on the floor. She wasn't moving.
Jack knelt beside her, feeling her pulse. It was steadily beating, and he could see she was breathing faintly.
He propped her head up on a pillow, grabbing a towel from the bathroom and wiping the blood off from around the wound. As he did, she stirred slightly. She barely opened her eyes, looking very disoriented.
"Jack." She said, looking up at him.
"Yeah, it's me." He said, noting the irony that he was actually flooded with relief knowing she was alive.
"I thought you were dead." She said, still sounding not entirely conscious.
"The bullet just got me in the arm."
"You need a doctor."
"So do you."
"I'm glad you're okay." Nina smiled faintly.
Jack just nodded, wiping her bangs off her forehead.
"Is anyone in here?" A sudden unfamiliar voice jolted them.
It was a police officer, searching the apartment.
"We're back here." Jack answered.
"I'm Officer Daniels, the paramedics are on their way." The cop said, kneeling beside them.
"I'm Jack Bauer, a federal agent with CTU. This is my girlfriend, Jennifer. We were just in our apartment and a man, Michael Amador, and a woman, Amanda, came in with guns. I fought them off." Jack decided not to mention that Nina was something of a lethal weapon herself. Didn't seem to have relevance, and would make his nice little girlfriend story a little hard to sell.
"So you know these people?"
"Yes. I was involved in business with Amador on an undercover assignment." Jack verified.
"What happened to your arm?" The cop asked.
"Gunshot wound."
"You seem to be getting around all right for a recent bullet wound." Officer Daniels looked shocked.
"Yeah, well, he's tough." Nina smiled at the officer from the ground.
"Jennifer, right?" The cop looked down at her.
"That's right." Nina lied easily.
"You're pregnant?"
"I sure hope so." She smiled, looking down at her swollen stomach.
"How far along are you?"
"2½ months."
"We'll have the doctors check everything out for you."
"Thank you."
"I'll go tell the paramedics your situations and tell them where you are." Officer Daniels promised, leaving quickly.
Nina exhaled heavily, closing her eyes for a moment.
"You should call Kim. She'll want to know if you're in the hospital."
"She might see you." Jack shook his head.
"Jack, you can't just keep hiding this from her. Eventually, there's going to be this mystery baby running around, and I think she might wonder." Nina rolled her eyes, her head still spinning slightly from the fall.
"I can't just keep hiding you out here either." Jack said, leaning against the bed and holding his arm tightly.
Nina didn't say anything, just stared at the ceiling.
Jack opened his mouth to say something else, and she silenced him with a glare.
"Jack…please, can we talk about this when I'm a little more lucid?"
"Of course." Jack said, and they fell back into silence.
"Just call her. I'll request a different room, you can tell her then. She'll be all worried about you, maybe she'll take it better."
"What if Chase comes too?"
"Tell him you want a teddy bear from the gift shop. He'll buy it."
"Nina, I'm serious. When Kim saw you at CTU…she nearly lost her mind. I can't even imagine what hearing this will do to her. What if she reports this? She could get you put back in prison. Maybe we should just wait until the baby's born at least."
"Yeah, because once that happens, who the hell cares what happens to me, right?" Nina smiled sadly at Jack.
"I didn't say that."
"But you meant that."
Jack sighed heavily.
"Look, Nina, sometimes I hate you, most of the time I don't understand you-"
"Oh, that old line." Nina grinned.
"But that doesn't mean I don't care what happens to you."
"Oh, really?"
"Sometimes, I still can't help but see you like I did along time ago…as the best friend and partner I ever had. And yes, you changed everything between us and I don't know if I can ever forget that, but it's hard to despise someone who at one time was everything I wanted."
Nina looked at him, surprised.
"Jack, would it mean anything if I honestly apologized?"
"Yes." Jack said simply.
"I'm sorry. You're the only man who's ever meant anything to me, and I ruined it because of a lot of bad decisions that I have no right to try to account for."
Jack just nodded, and it seemed as if a divide between them had been breached. He had wanted to hear her apologize for so long that it almost seemed surreal to actually have the words hanging heavily amid them.
Suddenly, the paramedics entered the apartment, their footsteps startling Nina and Jack out of their strange silence. That conversation would have to wait.
~*~
A/N- Please review! Ch. 15 to come soon!
Counting the Cost
~*~
Chapter Fourteen
Chains Meant to Break
~*~
Hanging by threads of palest silver
I could have stayed that way forever
Bad blood and ghosts wrapped tight around me
Nothing could ever seem to touch me
I lose what I love most
Did you know I was lost until you found me?
A stroke of luck or a gift from God?
The hand of fate or devil's claws?
From below or saints above?
You came to me
Here comes the cold again
I feel it closing in
It's falling down and
All around me falling
You say that you'll be there to catch me
Or will you only try to trap me
These are the rules I make
Our chains were meant to break
~*~
Jack scrambled through the side table's drawer, pulling out a flashlight and turning it on. A strong beam of light cut through the apartment.
"All my weapons are under my bed. Come on."
Jack grabbed Nina's arm, leading her towards his bedroom and quickly pulling out a large metal box underneath.
He handed her the flashlight, and she shined it on the box as Jack opened it.
It was the widest assortment of weapons she'd ever seen in a personal collection. It ranged from pistols to a grenade launcher.
"Are they loaded?" She asked, as he took a M-16.
"Yes." He said, handing her a shotgun.
"Jack…" She said, her voice shaking slightly.
He looked up into the beam of the flashlight, his eyes looking startlingly blue. He could barely even see her in the darkness.
"Nina, I'm not letting anything happen to you."
"Amador and Mandy…they do this for a living."
"So do we. You've got to focus, Nina."
She nodded, cocking the gun.
"Do you want to try to get out? The fire escape-" Jack said, putting extra clips into his pocket.
Suddenly, there were gunshots and screams in the outside hallway.
"There's no time." Nina said, her finger shaking slightly on the trigger as she pressed the gun against her shoulder and stepped back into the living room.
Jack caught her arm.
"You stay in the bedroom. They don't know for sure you're here with me."
"No, you need back-up."
"Just stand right by the door. If I need you, you'll know."
Nina looked up at him, suddenly struck with the realization that they were both probably going to die.
"It shouldn't end like this." She said in a choked whisper.
Jack looked back at her, his eyes full of an indiscernible emotion.
"It won't." He said softly.
Suddenly, there was a loud knock at their door.
"I have to go." Jack said, leaving the room quickly and closing the door behind him.
~*~
Nina pressed her ear against the door, every muscle in her body tensed.
She heard the door get kicked once…twice…and it was down.
"Jack Bauer…nice place you've got here." Nina heard Amador's distinctive voice.
"Yes, very tasteful." Mandy giggled.
"What do you want?" Jack stood up, not holding his gun as if to appear unaware.
"I think you know that." Amador said, smiling patronizingly.
"I wouldn't have asked." Jack countered.
"Okay, Jack, you want us to spell it out for you? Nina Myers. Where is she?" Mandy said, her cheery voice growing a little more serious.
"I have no idea."
"That's a lie." Mandy rolled her eyes.
"We know you've been in contact with her. We've heard everything, Jack, so don't try to bloody lie your way out of this!" Amador said, infuriated.
"We were in contact. She disappeared yesterday. I haven't heard from her since."
Amador and Mandy looked at each other.
"We don't believe you." Mandy said with crossed arms.
"Well, that's too bad." Jack shrugged.
"So you won't mind if we search your apartment?"
"Go right ahead." Jack said dismissively.
Nina's finger tensed on her trigger, ready behind the door.
"Mandy, darling, check over there. Jack, you come with me." Amador began to walk to the other side of the apartment, towards Kim's bedroom.
Mandy nodded, walking towards Jack's bedroom.
Mandy started to open the door, and Nina backed up carefully, hiding in the darkness the shadows provided.
She squinted to see in the darkness, searching around the room. She saw nothing, and proceeded to check in the bathroom. Nina pressed her back against the wall, getting ready.
Mandy opened her mouth to shout something to Amador, and all of a sudden, Nina grabbed her from behind, strangling her with her forearm, and holding the gun with the other.
"Hey, Evil Barbie, didn't you ever learn to check the corners first?" Nina smiled, feeling the old rush she got from being in total control of a situation.
Amanda fought to reach her gun, gasping for air. Nina spun her around, slamming her head into the wall and letting her drop to the ground, her gun pointed at her forehead.
"If you say a word to Amador, I'll shoot." Nina whispered.
"You're going to kill me anyway." Amanda said, her voice hoarse.
"Give me one good reason not to." Nina said through gritted teeth, pressing the barrel harder into Amanda's forehead.
"I'm sorry, Nina, please, I don't want to die." Mandy's eyes filled with tears as she suddenly reverted into her little girl persona.
"Believe me, Mandy…I'm doing you a favor. There's no other way to escape this life."
"So why don't you just kill yourself?" Mandy said, trying to find some kind of bargaining power.
"Because now I have something to live for." Nina said without any further explanation.
"What? Jack? He doesn't love you."
"Shut up." Nina said tightly.
"It's true. The world we live in, Nina, there's no love. There's just money and power and death." Mandy said softly.
"Well, then you're welcome." Nina said, preparing to shoot her.
Suddenly, there were other gunshots heard outside. Nina froze, giving Amanda enough time to kick her feet out from under her. Nina hit her head hard against the bedpost as she fell, slamming against the ground unconscious.
Amanda shakily got to her feet and went to go find Amador.
~*~
She walked through the apartment, but heard no noise. Finally, she walked into the bathroom in a mostly bare guest room after seeing the light was on.
"Amador?" She said tentatively.
Suddenly, the cold steel of a gun barrel was pressed against her temple.
"Hands on your head."
She complied.
"Get on your knees."
Amanda sank to her knees, looking up at Jack.
"Where's Amador?"
"He shot me in the arm and jumped out of the window onto the fire escape. I heard the car drive off. He abandoned you."
She looked up at Jack's profusely bleeding right forearm. He had already wrapped his button down shirt around it to apply pressure, and was wearing just a white wife beater.
"If you're going to kill me, just get it over with." She said in a small, girlish voice.
"Where's Nina?"
"I took care of her."
Jack pressed the gun harder against her skin.
"You killed her?" He said through gritted teeth.
Amanda didn't answer, just looking steadily ahead.
Jack pistol-whipped her ferociously, and she let out a cry as she fell to the ground, clutching her head.
"You bastard!" She whined.
"Is she dead?" He repeated.
"Why do you care?" Amanda looked up at him, honestly confused.
"I'm asking the questions. Did you kill her?"
"I don't understand you, Jack. Amador told me Nina killed your wife and, like, screwed over your little government agency. How can you even…I mean…"
"I don't need to explain myself to you. You're just a little girl who likes to pretend that all the destruction you cause has a purpose. So where do you get off accusing me of anything?" Jack looked at her angrily.
"I didn't accuse you."
"Get up." Jack ordered her.
Amanda complied.
"Call Amador. Tell him Nina's not here, and that you got me to talk. She's back in England. That's all you know." Jack ordered her.
Amanda nodded, picking up her phone and following his instructions.
"So what? You're just going to let me walk?" She looked at him quizzically.
"The police are already here. I doubt you'll get far." Jack said, looking out the window.
Amanda looked out the window as well, sighing heavily.
"I guess I'll just be going."
"Good luck." Jack said sarcastically.
"Thanks." She said with equal derision, jumping out the same window Amador had.
Jack was left alone in the bathroom, his arm throbbing unbearably. Suddenly, he was struck with the thought. He still didn't know if Nina was all right.
~*~
He raced into his bedroom, and saw her lying on the floor, a large gash on her right temple, and blood pooling on the floor. She wasn't moving.
Jack knelt beside her, feeling her pulse. It was steadily beating, and he could see she was breathing faintly.
He propped her head up on a pillow, grabbing a towel from the bathroom and wiping the blood off from around the wound. As he did, she stirred slightly. She barely opened her eyes, looking very disoriented.
"Jack." She said, looking up at him.
"Yeah, it's me." He said, noting the irony that he was actually flooded with relief knowing she was alive.
"I thought you were dead." She said, still sounding not entirely conscious.
"The bullet just got me in the arm."
"You need a doctor."
"So do you."
"I'm glad you're okay." Nina smiled faintly.
Jack just nodded, wiping her bangs off her forehead.
"Is anyone in here?" A sudden unfamiliar voice jolted them.
It was a police officer, searching the apartment.
"We're back here." Jack answered.
"I'm Officer Daniels, the paramedics are on their way." The cop said, kneeling beside them.
"I'm Jack Bauer, a federal agent with CTU. This is my girlfriend, Jennifer. We were just in our apartment and a man, Michael Amador, and a woman, Amanda, came in with guns. I fought them off." Jack decided not to mention that Nina was something of a lethal weapon herself. Didn't seem to have relevance, and would make his nice little girlfriend story a little hard to sell.
"So you know these people?"
"Yes. I was involved in business with Amador on an undercover assignment." Jack verified.
"What happened to your arm?" The cop asked.
"Gunshot wound."
"You seem to be getting around all right for a recent bullet wound." Officer Daniels looked shocked.
"Yeah, well, he's tough." Nina smiled at the officer from the ground.
"Jennifer, right?" The cop looked down at her.
"That's right." Nina lied easily.
"You're pregnant?"
"I sure hope so." She smiled, looking down at her swollen stomach.
"How far along are you?"
"2½ months."
"We'll have the doctors check everything out for you."
"Thank you."
"I'll go tell the paramedics your situations and tell them where you are." Officer Daniels promised, leaving quickly.
Nina exhaled heavily, closing her eyes for a moment.
"You should call Kim. She'll want to know if you're in the hospital."
"She might see you." Jack shook his head.
"Jack, you can't just keep hiding this from her. Eventually, there's going to be this mystery baby running around, and I think she might wonder." Nina rolled her eyes, her head still spinning slightly from the fall.
"I can't just keep hiding you out here either." Jack said, leaning against the bed and holding his arm tightly.
Nina didn't say anything, just stared at the ceiling.
Jack opened his mouth to say something else, and she silenced him with a glare.
"Jack…please, can we talk about this when I'm a little more lucid?"
"Of course." Jack said, and they fell back into silence.
"Just call her. I'll request a different room, you can tell her then. She'll be all worried about you, maybe she'll take it better."
"What if Chase comes too?"
"Tell him you want a teddy bear from the gift shop. He'll buy it."
"Nina, I'm serious. When Kim saw you at CTU…she nearly lost her mind. I can't even imagine what hearing this will do to her. What if she reports this? She could get you put back in prison. Maybe we should just wait until the baby's born at least."
"Yeah, because once that happens, who the hell cares what happens to me, right?" Nina smiled sadly at Jack.
"I didn't say that."
"But you meant that."
Jack sighed heavily.
"Look, Nina, sometimes I hate you, most of the time I don't understand you-"
"Oh, that old line." Nina grinned.
"But that doesn't mean I don't care what happens to you."
"Oh, really?"
"Sometimes, I still can't help but see you like I did along time ago…as the best friend and partner I ever had. And yes, you changed everything between us and I don't know if I can ever forget that, but it's hard to despise someone who at one time was everything I wanted."
Nina looked at him, surprised.
"Jack, would it mean anything if I honestly apologized?"
"Yes." Jack said simply.
"I'm sorry. You're the only man who's ever meant anything to me, and I ruined it because of a lot of bad decisions that I have no right to try to account for."
Jack just nodded, and it seemed as if a divide between them had been breached. He had wanted to hear her apologize for so long that it almost seemed surreal to actually have the words hanging heavily amid them.
Suddenly, the paramedics entered the apartment, their footsteps startling Nina and Jack out of their strange silence. That conversation would have to wait.
~*~
A/N- Please review! Ch. 15 to come soon!
