Season 1 Spoilers
Disclaimer: I don't own anything, except a $40000 student loan, so please don't sue me
Alrighty here's the last chapter for this story.....Please read and review
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He noticed Jack walking towards him concern and fear crossing his tired features.
"Have you seen Teri lately?" Jack inquired with worry.
"Not lately, have you asked Kim? Maybe she knows"
Jack started rubbing his eyes "Kim hasn't seen her since she was brought in, something's not right, Teri wouldn't just disappear like this?"
"I don't know Jack" Tony replied warily rubbing his forehead. Something was nagging him, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Tony stood up and walked around to where Jack was standing. "Lets go find her" Jack looked Tony straight in the face and could see that he was fighting a loosing battle with his emotions.
"Thanks Tony, for everything you've done today. She had me fooled too. I trusted her when I should have been trusting you" Tony just shrugged in response.
"I'll take the right corridor and you go down the far left, we'll eventually cross paths"
Jack nodded and turned to leave. Tony started walking down the corridor quickly, knowing that that the sooner they found Teri, meant the sooner they would debrief and then he could go home and attempt to erase the events of this day from his mind. He remembered Nina's last words to him. He had been told countless times in the past while in the marines that displaying emotions was to display weakness. He was becoming better at hiding them, but still acted out on them. He had always believed that emotions are what kept one human. He couldn't figure out what she meant by the word 'present' , although he was sure that he didn't want to know. Especially now since he knew what kind of person Nina really was. She was a monster. He started towards the back corridors of the CTU offices, barely anybody ever circulated this area, but if Teri needed some time to get away for a bit this would be the perfect place. Tony suddenly tripped over something and battled to keep his balance and stay standing.
"Shit"
The object that had caused him to trip was a downed security guard. He reached down and touched the fallen mans neck, noticing that this mans skin was eerily chilled. He searched around for a pulse but nothing could be felt. The feeling of dread that he felt earlier started to grow, as he heard Nina's taunting words of a present echo in the depths of his mind. He felt adrenaline course through his body and he started to believe he knew what that present was. He felt like he was going to be sick, as he dragged himself away from the body and restarted his search with a renewed fervor. As he continued down the corridor, his ears caught the sound of something indistinguishable. It was faint and he proceeded quickly to find the source. It slowly became louder and louder. It sounded like the cries of someone that had been critically wounded. He came to the door of one of CTU's storage rooms, with one hand on his gun he slowly opened it. Nothing in his life could have prepared him for the sight that was revealed behind the door. Not his few short years at CTU nor his experience in combat with the Marines. On the far side of the room Jack sat on the ground sobbing with the lifeless form of his wife cradled in his arms. Jacks head was down and made no sign of acknowledging that he knew that someone else had entered the room. Tony leaned against the wall and closed his eyes as if trying to erase the image that sat before him, his body frozen, and his mind numb. There was nothing that he could do, Nina did get the last punch just as she had wanted. Jacks broken voice broke through the fog in Tony's mind and brought him back to reality.
"Please god don't let her leave me. Oh god please don't do this to me......No you can't take her away"
Tony opened his eyes slowly and saw some of the CTU paramedics trying to get Teri's body away from Jack and place it on a stretcher unsuccessfully because Jack wouldn't let go of her. Tony walked slowly towards them knowing that he had to do something.
"Jack there's nothing you can do, she's gone" Tony whispered sadly as he kneeled down facing Jack. "You need to get it together Jack, Kim needs you to be strong"
"Oh God, how am I going to tell Kim?" Jack whispered with fear as the paramedics placed Teri's body on the stretcher and covered it with a sheet. Tony felt sorry for the man sitting before him but knew that getting Jack's mind back to reality and focused on the future would be the only way that he would allow Teri's body to go.
"Tony can you please tell her, I can't do it"
For the first time since Tony had been hired at CTU, Tony saw intense fear on Jacks face.
"I can't do that Jack, you know that, she needs your to tell her, she's going to need you there for on, lets go, and lets get both of you out of here"
Tony stood up and offered a hand to Jack to help him get up. Jack somewhat nodded and accepted Tony's offered hand and stood up. Jack wiped his eyes and started walking out the door with Tony following silently. They both walked down towards the main area of CTU deep in their own thoughts, both chastising themselves in various degrees for not being able to see through Nina's façade. The moment they both arrived at the main area of CTU, Mason walked over to the two defeated men
"Jack I'm sorry for what happened. None of us saw this coming..."
"Shut it George" Jack interrupted abruptly "I don't want to hear any of your bullshit excuses, you promised me that my family would be safe, now my wife is dead....great job"
Mason calmly replied "Jack look we've all had a long day I understand that your upset but.." "Upset damn right I am I trusted you, you son of a bitch...My wife is dead because of that bitch and your incompetence. Now I have to go tell my daughter that her mom's dead and try to pretend that everything will be all right" Jacked yelled angrily
"Look Jack take a couple of weeks of OK be with your daughter and sort this out"
Jack looked at Mason straight in the face, eyes full of hatred, "Here is my verbal resignation, you will have it in paper tomorrow, I'm through with this bullshit, I refuse to sacrifice anything else"
With that Jack turned on his heel and walked away.
"Almeida, go and debrief and go home take tomorrow off, you need it"
Mason said and patted Tony on the shoulder and walked away. Tony walked warily over to the debriefing room, dreading having to recount every detail of the day. He pressed record on the tape recorder and started his story from the moment he walked into the CTU building the previous night. His voice droned on for just under an hour with his recounting of the evernts, then finally it was over. 'Thank God" he thought now I can go home. He left the CTU building, not so much as even acknowledging any of his colleagues presence. As he reached into his pocket to fish out his car keys, Darren a good friend of his approached him
" Hey Almeida, me and a couple of the guys from field ops are going to grab some beers, wanna join?"
"Not now but thanks for the offer, just gonna go home and hit the sack maybe some other time"
"That's cool man"
Tony found his keys and opened the car door and Darren started walking away but turned towards Tony
"Almeida, you take care of yourself OK?" Tony looked up and nodded
"Will do" and with that Tony got into his car and drove away.
The next thing Tony knew he was pulling into the parking lot of the condo building that he shared with his cousin. He couldn't figure out how he had gotten home so quickly without even realizing it. He exited the car and made his way up to his apartment, sighing with relief as he opened the door and realized that his brother was still away. Everything was exactly where he had left it. He locked the door and made his way straight to his bedroom without even turning on the lights. He sat down on his bed and took of his shoes then laid back onto his duvet and closed his eyes. The fog that had clouded his mind since Nina had been arrested was dissipating and a whirlwind of his thoughts and memories were becoming clearer, and his emotions were taking over. He felt a myriad of feelings of anger, betrayal but most of all he felt lost and lonely. Nothing would ever erase the images of Nina being led away or seeing Jack cradle his wife's dead body. Tony felt as if a damn had broken inside of him as his tears poured down his face. As he cried in the darkness of his room he vowed to himself to never fall victim to his emotions again. Emotions were dangerous, that is what made him fall blindly for Nina. It was going to end here. Yes he knew what loneliness was but it was better then being hurt.
And with that Tony fell into a tormented slumber his dreams filled with the sorrow, betrayal and heartbreak that he felt. In the early hours of the morning Tony awoke in the darkness, and found his solitude. And whispered the words that would become his mantra. "Emotions are weakness......Never again"
Disclaimer: I don't own anything, except a $40000 student loan, so please don't sue me
Alrighty here's the last chapter for this story.....Please read and review
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------
He noticed Jack walking towards him concern and fear crossing his tired features.
"Have you seen Teri lately?" Jack inquired with worry.
"Not lately, have you asked Kim? Maybe she knows"
Jack started rubbing his eyes "Kim hasn't seen her since she was brought in, something's not right, Teri wouldn't just disappear like this?"
"I don't know Jack" Tony replied warily rubbing his forehead. Something was nagging him, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Tony stood up and walked around to where Jack was standing. "Lets go find her" Jack looked Tony straight in the face and could see that he was fighting a loosing battle with his emotions.
"Thanks Tony, for everything you've done today. She had me fooled too. I trusted her when I should have been trusting you" Tony just shrugged in response.
"I'll take the right corridor and you go down the far left, we'll eventually cross paths"
Jack nodded and turned to leave. Tony started walking down the corridor quickly, knowing that that the sooner they found Teri, meant the sooner they would debrief and then he could go home and attempt to erase the events of this day from his mind. He remembered Nina's last words to him. He had been told countless times in the past while in the marines that displaying emotions was to display weakness. He was becoming better at hiding them, but still acted out on them. He had always believed that emotions are what kept one human. He couldn't figure out what she meant by the word 'present' , although he was sure that he didn't want to know. Especially now since he knew what kind of person Nina really was. She was a monster. He started towards the back corridors of the CTU offices, barely anybody ever circulated this area, but if Teri needed some time to get away for a bit this would be the perfect place. Tony suddenly tripped over something and battled to keep his balance and stay standing.
"Shit"
The object that had caused him to trip was a downed security guard. He reached down and touched the fallen mans neck, noticing that this mans skin was eerily chilled. He searched around for a pulse but nothing could be felt. The feeling of dread that he felt earlier started to grow, as he heard Nina's taunting words of a present echo in the depths of his mind. He felt adrenaline course through his body and he started to believe he knew what that present was. He felt like he was going to be sick, as he dragged himself away from the body and restarted his search with a renewed fervor. As he continued down the corridor, his ears caught the sound of something indistinguishable. It was faint and he proceeded quickly to find the source. It slowly became louder and louder. It sounded like the cries of someone that had been critically wounded. He came to the door of one of CTU's storage rooms, with one hand on his gun he slowly opened it. Nothing in his life could have prepared him for the sight that was revealed behind the door. Not his few short years at CTU nor his experience in combat with the Marines. On the far side of the room Jack sat on the ground sobbing with the lifeless form of his wife cradled in his arms. Jacks head was down and made no sign of acknowledging that he knew that someone else had entered the room. Tony leaned against the wall and closed his eyes as if trying to erase the image that sat before him, his body frozen, and his mind numb. There was nothing that he could do, Nina did get the last punch just as she had wanted. Jacks broken voice broke through the fog in Tony's mind and brought him back to reality.
"Please god don't let her leave me. Oh god please don't do this to me......No you can't take her away"
Tony opened his eyes slowly and saw some of the CTU paramedics trying to get Teri's body away from Jack and place it on a stretcher unsuccessfully because Jack wouldn't let go of her. Tony walked slowly towards them knowing that he had to do something.
"Jack there's nothing you can do, she's gone" Tony whispered sadly as he kneeled down facing Jack. "You need to get it together Jack, Kim needs you to be strong"
"Oh God, how am I going to tell Kim?" Jack whispered with fear as the paramedics placed Teri's body on the stretcher and covered it with a sheet. Tony felt sorry for the man sitting before him but knew that getting Jack's mind back to reality and focused on the future would be the only way that he would allow Teri's body to go.
"Tony can you please tell her, I can't do it"
For the first time since Tony had been hired at CTU, Tony saw intense fear on Jacks face.
"I can't do that Jack, you know that, she needs your to tell her, she's going to need you there for on, lets go, and lets get both of you out of here"
Tony stood up and offered a hand to Jack to help him get up. Jack somewhat nodded and accepted Tony's offered hand and stood up. Jack wiped his eyes and started walking out the door with Tony following silently. They both walked down towards the main area of CTU deep in their own thoughts, both chastising themselves in various degrees for not being able to see through Nina's façade. The moment they both arrived at the main area of CTU, Mason walked over to the two defeated men
"Jack I'm sorry for what happened. None of us saw this coming..."
"Shut it George" Jack interrupted abruptly "I don't want to hear any of your bullshit excuses, you promised me that my family would be safe, now my wife is dead....great job"
Mason calmly replied "Jack look we've all had a long day I understand that your upset but.." "Upset damn right I am I trusted you, you son of a bitch...My wife is dead because of that bitch and your incompetence. Now I have to go tell my daughter that her mom's dead and try to pretend that everything will be all right" Jacked yelled angrily
"Look Jack take a couple of weeks of OK be with your daughter and sort this out"
Jack looked at Mason straight in the face, eyes full of hatred, "Here is my verbal resignation, you will have it in paper tomorrow, I'm through with this bullshit, I refuse to sacrifice anything else"
With that Jack turned on his heel and walked away.
"Almeida, go and debrief and go home take tomorrow off, you need it"
Mason said and patted Tony on the shoulder and walked away. Tony walked warily over to the debriefing room, dreading having to recount every detail of the day. He pressed record on the tape recorder and started his story from the moment he walked into the CTU building the previous night. His voice droned on for just under an hour with his recounting of the evernts, then finally it was over. 'Thank God" he thought now I can go home. He left the CTU building, not so much as even acknowledging any of his colleagues presence. As he reached into his pocket to fish out his car keys, Darren a good friend of his approached him
" Hey Almeida, me and a couple of the guys from field ops are going to grab some beers, wanna join?"
"Not now but thanks for the offer, just gonna go home and hit the sack maybe some other time"
"That's cool man"
Tony found his keys and opened the car door and Darren started walking away but turned towards Tony
"Almeida, you take care of yourself OK?" Tony looked up and nodded
"Will do" and with that Tony got into his car and drove away.
The next thing Tony knew he was pulling into the parking lot of the condo building that he shared with his cousin. He couldn't figure out how he had gotten home so quickly without even realizing it. He exited the car and made his way up to his apartment, sighing with relief as he opened the door and realized that his brother was still away. Everything was exactly where he had left it. He locked the door and made his way straight to his bedroom without even turning on the lights. He sat down on his bed and took of his shoes then laid back onto his duvet and closed his eyes. The fog that had clouded his mind since Nina had been arrested was dissipating and a whirlwind of his thoughts and memories were becoming clearer, and his emotions were taking over. He felt a myriad of feelings of anger, betrayal but most of all he felt lost and lonely. Nothing would ever erase the images of Nina being led away or seeing Jack cradle his wife's dead body. Tony felt as if a damn had broken inside of him as his tears poured down his face. As he cried in the darkness of his room he vowed to himself to never fall victim to his emotions again. Emotions were dangerous, that is what made him fall blindly for Nina. It was going to end here. Yes he knew what loneliness was but it was better then being hurt.
And with that Tony fell into a tormented slumber his dreams filled with the sorrow, betrayal and heartbreak that he felt. In the early hours of the morning Tony awoke in the darkness, and found his solitude. And whispered the words that would become his mantra. "Emotions are weakness......Never again"