Author Note: Sorry it took so long to update this fic. I forgot my A
drive for my lab top when I went home for spring break and had to type
everything I did on my lab top that I had not emailed to myself to my home
computer, and I choose only to do it for the other fic because there was
less to type at first.
Chapter 16
Jack slowly woke up from his drug-induced unconsciousness. He looked around the room something that had long been integrated into his instincts. He noticed only Ann and a Secret Service agent sitting in the room. He went to move his hand above his head when he felt the metal cuff and heard the clink of it to the headboard. He thought to himself, Great I'm being held captive by the president of the United States, can the day get any stranger? He did not want to think of how it could get worse, he knew it could, you can always go past rock bottom some called it hell.
Ann walked up to him and asked, "How are you feeling?"
Still groggy from the sedative she gave him, he answered in a slurred voice, "I've been better."
She smiled at him, she did not know what else to do. He had been betrayed today by the one man who she respected and he had taken quite a beating again. "I'm sorry about all of this, Mr. Bauer. I know how much you have sacrificed for you job and I'm sure David will explain everything to you. I do not believe he really wants this to be like it is, it was just out of his hands at the moment."
Jack began to feel the pain from of all his injuries and he tensed at the wave of pain and nausea that came over him. He tried not to show it, but it would be obvious to anyone who had half a brain.
"I'm going to give you something for the pain." Ann said walking out of the room to get her medicine bag she always carried on her because of David's condition. She entered the room and pulled out the liquid pain killer. Before she could give it to him, David and the Secret Service agent walked into the room.
David asked Ann, "Could you leave us alone for a while?"
"I was about to give him something for his pain . . ."
Palmer cut her off, "Don't. I need him to be awake and alert."
"But David, he is in a lot of pain and should not have to suffer. It's bad enough you have detained him against his will." Ann said choosing to forget her part in the entire ordeal. She had already justified her actions. Jack would have been in worse trouble by doing what he was trying to do earlier so she had to sedate him to keep him from hurting himself or the president.
"Leave us, please. I'm sure Jack would rather be awake for this." David said looking at Jack who was laying on the bed.
Ann looked at Jack and could see he clearly did not want any more drugs in him. She stormed out of the room and sat in the living room area fuming.
Jack tried to sit up, but could not with his one good arm cuffed. He looked at the President and asked in a quiet tone, "Could you take this off? I'm not going to do anything again."
Palmer looked at the Secret Service agent who walked over and uncuffed Jack. The Secret Service agent leaned against the wall by Jack. He was not going to let Jack get by him again. He had failed once, but he was not going to do it again.
As Jack pulled himself into a sitting position his face revealed the immense amount of pain he felt.
"Jack, I did not set your team up to fail. I think that by now, you would know me enough to know that I would never send six American soldiers to their deaths without enough cause and Victor Drazen was not enough. I knew that Victor was not going to be there on the last day of the mission , but I allowed the mission to continue because Ellis told me he had another team in place that would be able to capture Victor Drazen. I wanted him out of the picture either dead or captured. I did not want your team to fail, and I'm sure Ellis did not set it up either. I think I know who did, but I don't have any evidence yet. That is what I had Sherry working on earlier today. It has come to my attention that there are some people working against the American people for their own gains. I am almost sure that my Vice President is one of them. Other than that, I am not sure. This is the God's honest truth Jack." Palmer almost said in a pleading voice. He wanted Jack to believe him and he was telling most of the truth some of the facts he left out because Jack did not need to know in his opinion.
"Why didn't you tell me the first time we talked of it, sir?" Jack said trying to find the lies in Palmer's story.
"I did not believe you needed to know it. You had more than enough problems on your hands and I didn't know about the outside problems. I did not know all the details of the mission." Palmer answered in a straight voice never breaking eye contact with Jack.
"How could you not know the details? You authorized it, you had to know something." Jack said already knowing the answer.
"Ellis wanted to keep everyone involved in the dark so that it would not come back on anyone. Somehow it did, and I am sorry for that."
"Why are you keeping me here? Why won't you let me call my daughter? Why did you involve me and my daughter? I thought you understood I was done. I am retired and did not want to deal with any of the problems again."
"I am truly sorry about that Jack, but you brought it upon yourself. Those damn journals are what brought out the leak issue. Darla had a chance, and with my permission, she took it. Kim was never supposed to get hurt and this was not suppose to go as far as it did." Palmer answered.
"But she did, sir." Jack said with the anger clearly in his voice.
"I know and I am very sorry for it. But she is fine now."
"Sir, she is hardly fine. She thinks I'm dead."
"She will find out in due time you are not. I have Sherry working hard on finding the people."
"Sir, no offense to your ex-wife, but she is not cut out for this. She has never had to find people like this before by herself. She has her sources, but asking them will put her in danger because it will get back to the people she is asking."
"So how do we go about this?"
"Let CTU handle it. That is what they do."
"I don't want to bring them in. There are too many leaks and problems."
"Then let me do it."
"You are not in the shape Jack. Look at yourself, you can barely move without letting the pain you're showing. You should be resting as you are right now. You are in no shape to take these people on."
"Sir, you left me no choice when you involved me and my daughter. I may be dead, but Kim isn't and they will go after her eventually."
"We have her protected."
"At CTU, the place you don't trust because of the leaks. That is not good enough sir. We will have an upper hand because they think I'm dead. If you want send someone with me, I don't care. I'm bringing these people down."
"Jack, you can't. How about you help me by telling me what happened earlier today? How did you get in the shape you are in?"
"You cannot hold me here, sir. I don't pose a threat to anyone or national security so you have no reason to." Jack said testing the waters to see how much the president was sure his way was right.
"Jack, you don't want to make it harder on yourself. You and I both know there is no way you will get out of here. I am willing to keep you sedated as long as it takes. You are not leaving, and that is final."
Jack looked at him. All his anger clearly showing through his eyes. Palmer felt a cold chill run through him as he seen Jack's eyes like he had never seen them before.
Jack could no longer contain his hatred and anger, "Goddamn it! You can't fucking do this! I am an American citizen! I no longer work for you or anyone else! You have no fucking right! I have paid more than enough the past few years. I did my share for this country and I am done. Let me the fuck out of here now!"
The Secret Service agent was already ready to hold Jack down if need be. Palmer looked at his friend and said, "Jack, I know what you have paid. Believe me, but I can't let you go. Not yet. I promise I will make it up to you."
Jack tried to stand up but was met with resistance by the Secret Service agent putting his hand on Jack's uninjured shoulder. Jack looked at him and said, "I'm giving you five seconds to get your fucking hand off of me."
The man almost laughed too aloud. He thought, What are you going to do? You are in no shape to fight me. Unexpectedly Jack moved his injured arm through the pain and grabbed the man's arm, twisting it around to the point of almost breaking the man's arm. Jack pulled down on the arm to help him reach a standing position. The Secret Service agent went for his gun but was met with a punch to the back of the head with Jack's good left hand, stunning the Secret Service agent enough to allow Jack the chance to grab his gun.
Jack released his arm and returned his injured right arm to his side. Blood was now showing through the bandages on his right hand. His broken fingers hurt and his shoulder burned with pain again, but he put it all out of his mind and pointed the gun steadily at the president.
In shock, the President asked, "Jack what are you doing? Do you want to get yourself into more trouble?"
"I don't care anymore, sir. Turn around and face the wall." Jack said in a flat tone. His mind contemplating his next steps. He looked at the secret service man who sat on the floor with his hands up. Jack bent down and hit him hard in the head with the butt of the gun knocking him out.
Palmer turned around when he heard the man hit the floor. "Goddamn it Jack, what are you doing? Stop this foolishness right now before you hurt yourself or someone else."
"Where is Sherry?"
"She's in a meeting."
"Where at?"
"The conference room."
"Which is?"
"Down the hall from this room."
"How many Secret Service agents are outside?"
"I don't know."
"Where are Mike and Ann?"
"Mike is sleeping and Ann I'm not sure. She's pissed."
"Fine. Let's go."
"Where to?" The president said worried Jack was about ready to do something they both would regret later on. "You know I won't be able to help you out of this trouble this time Jack."
"I don't care anymore. Don't you understand that?"
"No, I don't Jack. I know you and this is not like you."
"You don't know shit." Jack said with his teeth clenched in pain. He walked up to the president and put an arm on him to help support him.
The two men walked through the door into the main room of the suite. The Secret Service agents all drew their guns at the sight of Jacking holding the president at gunpoint.
Ann looked on in shock. She was not sure what to do. She stood still in fear.
The President stopped and the Secret Service agents kept commanding Jack to put the gun down.
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Chase and Tony both knew that Sherry was hiding something, what they could not figure out. They were trained at noticing the little details that people gave off when they were lying, and they found one too many in Sherry Palmer as she discussed what had occurred that day. Knowing that there was no one in which they would find out the information from other than Sherry, they pressed on until the point where they could no longer take it. Chase always being curt like Jack and asked, "What are you lying to us about?"
Sherry looked at him and said, "I'm not lying to you."
"Yes you are. What is it? Were you involved in this?" Chase asked allowing just a little anger to show. "You know we lost a friend today, and you are lying to us about something. Tell me what it is and I'll keep it between us in this room. I just want to find the people that is all. I don't care if you had a part Mrs. Palmer." Chase pleaded.
"I'm not lying to you. That is all I know."
Chase got up and walked out of the room to keep himself from getting into trouble. Tony thanked her for her time and followed Chase out of the room. Richard followed behind the entire time keeping quiet he knew that politics play a major role in law enforcement and he was not looking to go back to street duty any time soon, and this is what could lead him to that.
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Jack had the gun on Palmer standing in the center of the room. He could not move forward because of the Secret Service, and there was no reason to move back, but he would not give up. They all just stood there. The Secret Service agents were commanding him to put the gun down, and his mind commanding himself to stay standing.
Palmer tried one more time to get through to Jack, "Come on, Jack. You don't want this. What about Kim? Eventually, they will get tired and they will fire on you. You don't want Kim to really be an orphan alone."
"I'm already dead. And Kim has been alone for a long time. She has Chase now she'll be fine."
"Is that what you think Jack? Kim needs her father. Chase also needs your guidance." Palmer tried hard to reason with him.
The Secret Service agent that Jack had knocked out earlier was in the door way behind Jack. Jack was too busy paying attention to the others that he never noticed the man approaching him. All of the sudden pain rushed through Jack's shoulder and he moaned in pain still having the gun pointed at the president. He felt the hand constricting his shoulder and then a hand around his neck pulling him towards the ground. The gun went off as Jack fell towards the floor.
On the ground Jack was breathing heavily, with the gun on the floor next to him and the Secret Service agent holding him in place. A moment later, more Secret Service agents were on him and he was now on his stomach with his hands cuffed behind his back.
The other Secret Service agents were helping the President up. "Sir, are you okay? Where are you hit?"
"What the hell was that for?!" The president yelled at the Secret Service agent that had snuck up behind Jack. "You could have gotten me killed, and there was no reason to do that to him. He would have calmed down eventually. He never would have hurt me."
"Sir, he had a gun pointed at you, and we had no way of knowing whether or not he would have hurt you or not." The Secret Service agent said in his defense.
The President walked over to where Jack lay on the floor gasping for air. "Are you okay Jack?" The president asked being unable to be pissed off at him. Jack had saved his life so many times, he had put Jack's life in jeopardy so many times, and he had lied to Jack. Jack had more than enough reasons to want to kill him. In his heart, though, he knew Jack would never kill him.
The door to the suite came flying open. Tony, Richard, and Chase walked into the room with their guns drawn. Every Secret Service agent had their guns pointed at them.
The first thing Tony noticed was Jack on the floor. His face registered the shook immediately and he asked, "Jack? What's going on? Mr. President?" Tony did not understand. He had been told Jack was dead and he assumed the President would not lie about that.
Jack was still on the floor gasping for air. The pain was abundant at the moment that he wish he had passed out from it. Ann walked over to him slowly. She was scared from all the guns being pulled and pointed at someone at the moment. She gently called his name, "Jack, I'm going to give you something for the pain. Okay?"
She took the needle and vial from her bag and withdrew enough of the pain killer to remove the pain from Jack. She inserted the needle into his arm, this time he did not fight her. She pushed the plunger down and the fluid ran into Jack's blood stream. She looked up at one of the secret service men standing above her and said, "Uncuff this man now. His shoulder should not be put in this position."
The Secret Service agent looked at the president who nodded in approval. The man bent down and uncuffed Jack's hands. He stood ready for anything from Jack.
"Mr. Almeida, Mr. Edmunds, and your friend, put your guns down. There are no hostiles here. I will explain everything to you" The president stated.
Richard did put his gun back the moment he saw the president. Chase looked at Tony and followed Tony in putting his gun back in the holster. Tony had not taken his eyes off of Jack. He was overwhelmed with mixed feelings happiness, sadness because of Jack's current condition, and a feeling of dread because he knew there was a reason Jack was cuffed.
The President motioned for the three men to sit down. Each sitting on the couch staring at their friend. Two Secret Service agents grabbed Jack off the floor and began to take him out of the room when Chase asked, "Where are you taking him?"
"Don't worry, Chase. They are just taking back to a room. Ann is going to attended to him again, and than you can see him." The President answered.
Jack no longer felt the pain. The drugs were well-known to his body and he enjoyed the feeling. He looked down at his hand the bandage was covered in blood. He knew he should feel pain, but he did not.
Ann gently grabbed his bandage hand he was so intently studying and took the bandaged off it to put a fresh bandage on. She was worried about him he had taken quite a beating and not only from the enemy. She recovered his hand and went to work on his shoulder. She did not have anything to numb it so she could restitch it. She hoped that the morphine she gave him would be enough. As she did, she could feel him tense sometimes and she knew that he could feel the pain of the needle and was not trying to show it. She said softly to him, "I'm sorry about all of this. I am sure David will have a great excuse and that he is truly sorry for all of it."
Jack stared at the wall and said nothing to her. She thought maybe he was asleep when he said softly to her, "Thank you."
"It is the least I could do." She finished stitching the wound and started to dress it again. When she finished she looked at him and said, "Mr. Bauer, I think you are good to go again. Maybe this time, you will rest?" She smiled at him and said, "What am I saying. The chances of you resting are about the same chances of a snow ball in hell, but please take it easy. Sit here for a second and I will go try to find you some clothes."
Ann walked out of the room and found David sitting on the chair talking to Chase, Tony, and Richard. She excused herself into the conversation and said to David in his ear, "Do you mind if I steal a shirt for Jack? I know your shirt won't exactly fit him, but it's a start."
David looked up at her and knew she was not going to be on his side of keeping Jack here. "Sure. Take whatever you need." He said giving in to her because he did not want to argue with her she was right, he could not keep Jack here any longer against his will. He thought to himself he could have Jack arrested for taking him at gunpoint, but that seemed almost laughable because technically, Jack was trying to escape a captor.
Ann left him and went to their room. She searched through David's clothes to find a shirt that would not be missed too much. She went through David's slacks and picked out a pair that were no longer in use. They would be to long and probably to big in the waste for Jack, but it would get him out of here. She walked back into Mike's suite and showed David the clothes she picked out and he shook his head in approval. She continued back to the room Jack had been sitting in. When she entered he looked up at her, his eyes glossy from the drug. She smiled at him and said, "These will probably be too big on you, but you can always say you got to borrow clothes from the President."
"Thank you for everything." Jack responded.
"Don't thank me yet you haven't gotten the bill." She said trying to keep things light. She felt sorry for the man, but at the same time knew most of what had happened he brought onto himself. "Let's get you dressed so you can get out of here to see your daughter."
She gently helped Jack get the shirt on putting his injured shoulder in the sleeve first and then his other arm. He buttoned the shirt having trouble with it because he only had one good hand to help the process and his other hand only contributing a thumb. He refused to have her help him. When he was finished buttoning the shirt, she walked up to him and rolled the two long sleeves up. She almost laughed at the difference in size between Jack and the President. After helping him roll the sleeves up, she walked into the bathroom off the room to grab the pills the doctor at the hospital prescribed for him. When she got back, he already had the pants on. She couldn't help but laugh this time. Jack looked almost like the little boy who attempts to put his father's clothes on.
Noticing she was laughing at him, he asked, "What's so funny?" He knew why she was laughing and he started to laugh with her when he looked at himself in the mirror.
She handed him the bottle of pills and said, "Take these, please Jack. It will help with the pain, but it will be painful. If you feel dizzy or anything like that, see a doctor. You should go and see a doctor now, but I know you won't. In a week, I want you to go see a doctor and have them check up on you again. If you don't, I'll track you down again." She left the room again and returned with a sling for his arm. She helped him put it on.
He tensed as his arm moved upwards to get put in the sling, pain rushed through his shoulder. After the sling was on, he stood up and followed her out to join the others. As he walked into what would be considered the living room of the suite the President stood up and looked at Jack. He did not know what to say he looked at Jack whose eyes were still glossy from the drug and said the only thing he could think of, "I'm sorry, Jack. I did what I thought was right."
Knowing that the President had a huge advantage over him right now because of his earlier actions and knowing that the President had done what he believed was right, Jack looked at him and said, "You did what you had to do." Jack could not say all was forgiven because he had not only almost lost his daughter and his life today, but he had lost his wife, and six of his best men years ago because of what David Palmer had chosen to do.
Chase could feel the tension in the room and said, "Jack, you look pretty damn good for a dead man. I'm glad to see you are still alive and kicking."
"How is Kim?" Jack asked worried.
"She was really torn up when she heard you were dead. Here, call her and let her know you are not dead. She'll be happy to hear it." Chase said handing Jack a cell phone.
Before he dialed the number, Jack asked, "How are you doing?"
"Oh, me? I just got a little scratch nothing to worry about." Chase said looking down at his chest which began to hurt at the thought of the bullet that had tore through it.
"You should be in the hospital, Chase. You were shot in the chest." Jack protested. Jack thought to himself, Chase was like him in so many ways. No wonder Kim loved him. People always say that a woman will always end up with a man like her father, and Chase was Jack when he was younger. Not that Jack had changed that much.
"I'll go if you go." Chase said knowing that Jack would not go.
Jack dialed the number Tony had given him. It was the direct number to Kim's room.
Michelle answered the phone and almost screamed at Jack when she heard his voice on the other line. She handed Kim the phone being pissed at Jack for not letting them know he was alive earlier or even letting them think he was dead.
Kim took the phone from Michelle not knowing it was her father. "Hello?"
"Kim honey. I'm so sorry baby." Jack said in the phone quietly, not wanting the others hear him talk to her as he was.
"Dad?"
"Yeah it's me. I'm not dead. I'm so sorry you were led to believe I was. I love you so much Kim. I'm so sorry." Jack said holding back the tears feeling the lump in his throat grow.
"Are you okay, dad?" Kim asked worried and happy all at the same time.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Jack paused, "I just wanted to call you to clear the matter up. I am so sorry honey. I better get off there is work to be done." Jack said his good-bye to his daughter and hung the phone up. When he was finished with the call he noticed everyone in the room had been paying attention to his phone conversation and he blushed at the thought of it.
"What work?" Palmer asked clearly showing he was eavesdropping into the conversation.
Jack cleared his throat and said, "The people who had me earlier clearly have a plan for something. And when people like that get together, it is never good. Something is going on sir, and it is not something good.
Chapter 16
Jack slowly woke up from his drug-induced unconsciousness. He looked around the room something that had long been integrated into his instincts. He noticed only Ann and a Secret Service agent sitting in the room. He went to move his hand above his head when he felt the metal cuff and heard the clink of it to the headboard. He thought to himself, Great I'm being held captive by the president of the United States, can the day get any stranger? He did not want to think of how it could get worse, he knew it could, you can always go past rock bottom some called it hell.
Ann walked up to him and asked, "How are you feeling?"
Still groggy from the sedative she gave him, he answered in a slurred voice, "I've been better."
She smiled at him, she did not know what else to do. He had been betrayed today by the one man who she respected and he had taken quite a beating again. "I'm sorry about all of this, Mr. Bauer. I know how much you have sacrificed for you job and I'm sure David will explain everything to you. I do not believe he really wants this to be like it is, it was just out of his hands at the moment."
Jack began to feel the pain from of all his injuries and he tensed at the wave of pain and nausea that came over him. He tried not to show it, but it would be obvious to anyone who had half a brain.
"I'm going to give you something for the pain." Ann said walking out of the room to get her medicine bag she always carried on her because of David's condition. She entered the room and pulled out the liquid pain killer. Before she could give it to him, David and the Secret Service agent walked into the room.
David asked Ann, "Could you leave us alone for a while?"
"I was about to give him something for his pain . . ."
Palmer cut her off, "Don't. I need him to be awake and alert."
"But David, he is in a lot of pain and should not have to suffer. It's bad enough you have detained him against his will." Ann said choosing to forget her part in the entire ordeal. She had already justified her actions. Jack would have been in worse trouble by doing what he was trying to do earlier so she had to sedate him to keep him from hurting himself or the president.
"Leave us, please. I'm sure Jack would rather be awake for this." David said looking at Jack who was laying on the bed.
Ann looked at Jack and could see he clearly did not want any more drugs in him. She stormed out of the room and sat in the living room area fuming.
Jack tried to sit up, but could not with his one good arm cuffed. He looked at the President and asked in a quiet tone, "Could you take this off? I'm not going to do anything again."
Palmer looked at the Secret Service agent who walked over and uncuffed Jack. The Secret Service agent leaned against the wall by Jack. He was not going to let Jack get by him again. He had failed once, but he was not going to do it again.
As Jack pulled himself into a sitting position his face revealed the immense amount of pain he felt.
"Jack, I did not set your team up to fail. I think that by now, you would know me enough to know that I would never send six American soldiers to their deaths without enough cause and Victor Drazen was not enough. I knew that Victor was not going to be there on the last day of the mission , but I allowed the mission to continue because Ellis told me he had another team in place that would be able to capture Victor Drazen. I wanted him out of the picture either dead or captured. I did not want your team to fail, and I'm sure Ellis did not set it up either. I think I know who did, but I don't have any evidence yet. That is what I had Sherry working on earlier today. It has come to my attention that there are some people working against the American people for their own gains. I am almost sure that my Vice President is one of them. Other than that, I am not sure. This is the God's honest truth Jack." Palmer almost said in a pleading voice. He wanted Jack to believe him and he was telling most of the truth some of the facts he left out because Jack did not need to know in his opinion.
"Why didn't you tell me the first time we talked of it, sir?" Jack said trying to find the lies in Palmer's story.
"I did not believe you needed to know it. You had more than enough problems on your hands and I didn't know about the outside problems. I did not know all the details of the mission." Palmer answered in a straight voice never breaking eye contact with Jack.
"How could you not know the details? You authorized it, you had to know something." Jack said already knowing the answer.
"Ellis wanted to keep everyone involved in the dark so that it would not come back on anyone. Somehow it did, and I am sorry for that."
"Why are you keeping me here? Why won't you let me call my daughter? Why did you involve me and my daughter? I thought you understood I was done. I am retired and did not want to deal with any of the problems again."
"I am truly sorry about that Jack, but you brought it upon yourself. Those damn journals are what brought out the leak issue. Darla had a chance, and with my permission, she took it. Kim was never supposed to get hurt and this was not suppose to go as far as it did." Palmer answered.
"But she did, sir." Jack said with the anger clearly in his voice.
"I know and I am very sorry for it. But she is fine now."
"Sir, she is hardly fine. She thinks I'm dead."
"She will find out in due time you are not. I have Sherry working hard on finding the people."
"Sir, no offense to your ex-wife, but she is not cut out for this. She has never had to find people like this before by herself. She has her sources, but asking them will put her in danger because it will get back to the people she is asking."
"So how do we go about this?"
"Let CTU handle it. That is what they do."
"I don't want to bring them in. There are too many leaks and problems."
"Then let me do it."
"You are not in the shape Jack. Look at yourself, you can barely move without letting the pain you're showing. You should be resting as you are right now. You are in no shape to take these people on."
"Sir, you left me no choice when you involved me and my daughter. I may be dead, but Kim isn't and they will go after her eventually."
"We have her protected."
"At CTU, the place you don't trust because of the leaks. That is not good enough sir. We will have an upper hand because they think I'm dead. If you want send someone with me, I don't care. I'm bringing these people down."
"Jack, you can't. How about you help me by telling me what happened earlier today? How did you get in the shape you are in?"
"You cannot hold me here, sir. I don't pose a threat to anyone or national security so you have no reason to." Jack said testing the waters to see how much the president was sure his way was right.
"Jack, you don't want to make it harder on yourself. You and I both know there is no way you will get out of here. I am willing to keep you sedated as long as it takes. You are not leaving, and that is final."
Jack looked at him. All his anger clearly showing through his eyes. Palmer felt a cold chill run through him as he seen Jack's eyes like he had never seen them before.
Jack could no longer contain his hatred and anger, "Goddamn it! You can't fucking do this! I am an American citizen! I no longer work for you or anyone else! You have no fucking right! I have paid more than enough the past few years. I did my share for this country and I am done. Let me the fuck out of here now!"
The Secret Service agent was already ready to hold Jack down if need be. Palmer looked at his friend and said, "Jack, I know what you have paid. Believe me, but I can't let you go. Not yet. I promise I will make it up to you."
Jack tried to stand up but was met with resistance by the Secret Service agent putting his hand on Jack's uninjured shoulder. Jack looked at him and said, "I'm giving you five seconds to get your fucking hand off of me."
The man almost laughed too aloud. He thought, What are you going to do? You are in no shape to fight me. Unexpectedly Jack moved his injured arm through the pain and grabbed the man's arm, twisting it around to the point of almost breaking the man's arm. Jack pulled down on the arm to help him reach a standing position. The Secret Service agent went for his gun but was met with a punch to the back of the head with Jack's good left hand, stunning the Secret Service agent enough to allow Jack the chance to grab his gun.
Jack released his arm and returned his injured right arm to his side. Blood was now showing through the bandages on his right hand. His broken fingers hurt and his shoulder burned with pain again, but he put it all out of his mind and pointed the gun steadily at the president.
In shock, the President asked, "Jack what are you doing? Do you want to get yourself into more trouble?"
"I don't care anymore, sir. Turn around and face the wall." Jack said in a flat tone. His mind contemplating his next steps. He looked at the secret service man who sat on the floor with his hands up. Jack bent down and hit him hard in the head with the butt of the gun knocking him out.
Palmer turned around when he heard the man hit the floor. "Goddamn it Jack, what are you doing? Stop this foolishness right now before you hurt yourself or someone else."
"Where is Sherry?"
"She's in a meeting."
"Where at?"
"The conference room."
"Which is?"
"Down the hall from this room."
"How many Secret Service agents are outside?"
"I don't know."
"Where are Mike and Ann?"
"Mike is sleeping and Ann I'm not sure. She's pissed."
"Fine. Let's go."
"Where to?" The president said worried Jack was about ready to do something they both would regret later on. "You know I won't be able to help you out of this trouble this time Jack."
"I don't care anymore. Don't you understand that?"
"No, I don't Jack. I know you and this is not like you."
"You don't know shit." Jack said with his teeth clenched in pain. He walked up to the president and put an arm on him to help support him.
The two men walked through the door into the main room of the suite. The Secret Service agents all drew their guns at the sight of Jacking holding the president at gunpoint.
Ann looked on in shock. She was not sure what to do. She stood still in fear.
The President stopped and the Secret Service agents kept commanding Jack to put the gun down.
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Chase and Tony both knew that Sherry was hiding something, what they could not figure out. They were trained at noticing the little details that people gave off when they were lying, and they found one too many in Sherry Palmer as she discussed what had occurred that day. Knowing that there was no one in which they would find out the information from other than Sherry, they pressed on until the point where they could no longer take it. Chase always being curt like Jack and asked, "What are you lying to us about?"
Sherry looked at him and said, "I'm not lying to you."
"Yes you are. What is it? Were you involved in this?" Chase asked allowing just a little anger to show. "You know we lost a friend today, and you are lying to us about something. Tell me what it is and I'll keep it between us in this room. I just want to find the people that is all. I don't care if you had a part Mrs. Palmer." Chase pleaded.
"I'm not lying to you. That is all I know."
Chase got up and walked out of the room to keep himself from getting into trouble. Tony thanked her for her time and followed Chase out of the room. Richard followed behind the entire time keeping quiet he knew that politics play a major role in law enforcement and he was not looking to go back to street duty any time soon, and this is what could lead him to that.
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Jack had the gun on Palmer standing in the center of the room. He could not move forward because of the Secret Service, and there was no reason to move back, but he would not give up. They all just stood there. The Secret Service agents were commanding him to put the gun down, and his mind commanding himself to stay standing.
Palmer tried one more time to get through to Jack, "Come on, Jack. You don't want this. What about Kim? Eventually, they will get tired and they will fire on you. You don't want Kim to really be an orphan alone."
"I'm already dead. And Kim has been alone for a long time. She has Chase now she'll be fine."
"Is that what you think Jack? Kim needs her father. Chase also needs your guidance." Palmer tried hard to reason with him.
The Secret Service agent that Jack had knocked out earlier was in the door way behind Jack. Jack was too busy paying attention to the others that he never noticed the man approaching him. All of the sudden pain rushed through Jack's shoulder and he moaned in pain still having the gun pointed at the president. He felt the hand constricting his shoulder and then a hand around his neck pulling him towards the ground. The gun went off as Jack fell towards the floor.
On the ground Jack was breathing heavily, with the gun on the floor next to him and the Secret Service agent holding him in place. A moment later, more Secret Service agents were on him and he was now on his stomach with his hands cuffed behind his back.
The other Secret Service agents were helping the President up. "Sir, are you okay? Where are you hit?"
"What the hell was that for?!" The president yelled at the Secret Service agent that had snuck up behind Jack. "You could have gotten me killed, and there was no reason to do that to him. He would have calmed down eventually. He never would have hurt me."
"Sir, he had a gun pointed at you, and we had no way of knowing whether or not he would have hurt you or not." The Secret Service agent said in his defense.
The President walked over to where Jack lay on the floor gasping for air. "Are you okay Jack?" The president asked being unable to be pissed off at him. Jack had saved his life so many times, he had put Jack's life in jeopardy so many times, and he had lied to Jack. Jack had more than enough reasons to want to kill him. In his heart, though, he knew Jack would never kill him.
The door to the suite came flying open. Tony, Richard, and Chase walked into the room with their guns drawn. Every Secret Service agent had their guns pointed at them.
The first thing Tony noticed was Jack on the floor. His face registered the shook immediately and he asked, "Jack? What's going on? Mr. President?" Tony did not understand. He had been told Jack was dead and he assumed the President would not lie about that.
Jack was still on the floor gasping for air. The pain was abundant at the moment that he wish he had passed out from it. Ann walked over to him slowly. She was scared from all the guns being pulled and pointed at someone at the moment. She gently called his name, "Jack, I'm going to give you something for the pain. Okay?"
She took the needle and vial from her bag and withdrew enough of the pain killer to remove the pain from Jack. She inserted the needle into his arm, this time he did not fight her. She pushed the plunger down and the fluid ran into Jack's blood stream. She looked up at one of the secret service men standing above her and said, "Uncuff this man now. His shoulder should not be put in this position."
The Secret Service agent looked at the president who nodded in approval. The man bent down and uncuffed Jack's hands. He stood ready for anything from Jack.
"Mr. Almeida, Mr. Edmunds, and your friend, put your guns down. There are no hostiles here. I will explain everything to you" The president stated.
Richard did put his gun back the moment he saw the president. Chase looked at Tony and followed Tony in putting his gun back in the holster. Tony had not taken his eyes off of Jack. He was overwhelmed with mixed feelings happiness, sadness because of Jack's current condition, and a feeling of dread because he knew there was a reason Jack was cuffed.
The President motioned for the three men to sit down. Each sitting on the couch staring at their friend. Two Secret Service agents grabbed Jack off the floor and began to take him out of the room when Chase asked, "Where are you taking him?"
"Don't worry, Chase. They are just taking back to a room. Ann is going to attended to him again, and than you can see him." The President answered.
Jack no longer felt the pain. The drugs were well-known to his body and he enjoyed the feeling. He looked down at his hand the bandage was covered in blood. He knew he should feel pain, but he did not.
Ann gently grabbed his bandage hand he was so intently studying and took the bandaged off it to put a fresh bandage on. She was worried about him he had taken quite a beating and not only from the enemy. She recovered his hand and went to work on his shoulder. She did not have anything to numb it so she could restitch it. She hoped that the morphine she gave him would be enough. As she did, she could feel him tense sometimes and she knew that he could feel the pain of the needle and was not trying to show it. She said softly to him, "I'm sorry about all of this. I am sure David will have a great excuse and that he is truly sorry for all of it."
Jack stared at the wall and said nothing to her. She thought maybe he was asleep when he said softly to her, "Thank you."
"It is the least I could do." She finished stitching the wound and started to dress it again. When she finished she looked at him and said, "Mr. Bauer, I think you are good to go again. Maybe this time, you will rest?" She smiled at him and said, "What am I saying. The chances of you resting are about the same chances of a snow ball in hell, but please take it easy. Sit here for a second and I will go try to find you some clothes."
Ann walked out of the room and found David sitting on the chair talking to Chase, Tony, and Richard. She excused herself into the conversation and said to David in his ear, "Do you mind if I steal a shirt for Jack? I know your shirt won't exactly fit him, but it's a start."
David looked up at her and knew she was not going to be on his side of keeping Jack here. "Sure. Take whatever you need." He said giving in to her because he did not want to argue with her she was right, he could not keep Jack here any longer against his will. He thought to himself he could have Jack arrested for taking him at gunpoint, but that seemed almost laughable because technically, Jack was trying to escape a captor.
Ann left him and went to their room. She searched through David's clothes to find a shirt that would not be missed too much. She went through David's slacks and picked out a pair that were no longer in use. They would be to long and probably to big in the waste for Jack, but it would get him out of here. She walked back into Mike's suite and showed David the clothes she picked out and he shook his head in approval. She continued back to the room Jack had been sitting in. When she entered he looked up at her, his eyes glossy from the drug. She smiled at him and said, "These will probably be too big on you, but you can always say you got to borrow clothes from the President."
"Thank you for everything." Jack responded.
"Don't thank me yet you haven't gotten the bill." She said trying to keep things light. She felt sorry for the man, but at the same time knew most of what had happened he brought onto himself. "Let's get you dressed so you can get out of here to see your daughter."
She gently helped Jack get the shirt on putting his injured shoulder in the sleeve first and then his other arm. He buttoned the shirt having trouble with it because he only had one good hand to help the process and his other hand only contributing a thumb. He refused to have her help him. When he was finished buttoning the shirt, she walked up to him and rolled the two long sleeves up. She almost laughed at the difference in size between Jack and the President. After helping him roll the sleeves up, she walked into the bathroom off the room to grab the pills the doctor at the hospital prescribed for him. When she got back, he already had the pants on. She couldn't help but laugh this time. Jack looked almost like the little boy who attempts to put his father's clothes on.
Noticing she was laughing at him, he asked, "What's so funny?" He knew why she was laughing and he started to laugh with her when he looked at himself in the mirror.
She handed him the bottle of pills and said, "Take these, please Jack. It will help with the pain, but it will be painful. If you feel dizzy or anything like that, see a doctor. You should go and see a doctor now, but I know you won't. In a week, I want you to go see a doctor and have them check up on you again. If you don't, I'll track you down again." She left the room again and returned with a sling for his arm. She helped him put it on.
He tensed as his arm moved upwards to get put in the sling, pain rushed through his shoulder. After the sling was on, he stood up and followed her out to join the others. As he walked into what would be considered the living room of the suite the President stood up and looked at Jack. He did not know what to say he looked at Jack whose eyes were still glossy from the drug and said the only thing he could think of, "I'm sorry, Jack. I did what I thought was right."
Knowing that the President had a huge advantage over him right now because of his earlier actions and knowing that the President had done what he believed was right, Jack looked at him and said, "You did what you had to do." Jack could not say all was forgiven because he had not only almost lost his daughter and his life today, but he had lost his wife, and six of his best men years ago because of what David Palmer had chosen to do.
Chase could feel the tension in the room and said, "Jack, you look pretty damn good for a dead man. I'm glad to see you are still alive and kicking."
"How is Kim?" Jack asked worried.
"She was really torn up when she heard you were dead. Here, call her and let her know you are not dead. She'll be happy to hear it." Chase said handing Jack a cell phone.
Before he dialed the number, Jack asked, "How are you doing?"
"Oh, me? I just got a little scratch nothing to worry about." Chase said looking down at his chest which began to hurt at the thought of the bullet that had tore through it.
"You should be in the hospital, Chase. You were shot in the chest." Jack protested. Jack thought to himself, Chase was like him in so many ways. No wonder Kim loved him. People always say that a woman will always end up with a man like her father, and Chase was Jack when he was younger. Not that Jack had changed that much.
"I'll go if you go." Chase said knowing that Jack would not go.
Jack dialed the number Tony had given him. It was the direct number to Kim's room.
Michelle answered the phone and almost screamed at Jack when she heard his voice on the other line. She handed Kim the phone being pissed at Jack for not letting them know he was alive earlier or even letting them think he was dead.
Kim took the phone from Michelle not knowing it was her father. "Hello?"
"Kim honey. I'm so sorry baby." Jack said in the phone quietly, not wanting the others hear him talk to her as he was.
"Dad?"
"Yeah it's me. I'm not dead. I'm so sorry you were led to believe I was. I love you so much Kim. I'm so sorry." Jack said holding back the tears feeling the lump in his throat grow.
"Are you okay, dad?" Kim asked worried and happy all at the same time.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Jack paused, "I just wanted to call you to clear the matter up. I am so sorry honey. I better get off there is work to be done." Jack said his good-bye to his daughter and hung the phone up. When he was finished with the call he noticed everyone in the room had been paying attention to his phone conversation and he blushed at the thought of it.
"What work?" Palmer asked clearly showing he was eavesdropping into the conversation.
Jack cleared his throat and said, "The people who had me earlier clearly have a plan for something. And when people like that get together, it is never good. Something is going on sir, and it is not something good.