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Meanwhile, Jack was still living his nightmare, which was now moving from one image to another, reminding him of what had happened after the stabbing.
He woke up in a white bed in a white room where people wore white overcoats, a hospital. He had laid in the same bed for weeks, until they were satisfied his wounds were healed. He had no visitors during this, after all, Daniel was his only blood relative left. The police were questioning him, the social worker was explaining the scenario of a foster home to him, he was filling in forms for the army. Running from reality.
The images moved faster and faster, little screen-shots of his life from that day on, when he became a soldier. Images of the training throughout his different ranks in the military, fighting with his fellow comrades, covert missions, the birth of Kim, the death of Terri, the Drazen's, Nina, Masons departure, the nuclear bomb, the torture, Kate, the Salazar's, the virus, Chappelle, and lastly, Daniel's return.
As the new image of Daniel entered his brain he shot up awake crying out in pain. Daniel jumped up shocked for a second, then composed himself enough to grab Jack's wrist,
"Whoa Jack, calm down, Jack, Jack! It was just a dream... take it easy." He said it like a father would to his son.
"I.... where are......" Jack muttered, trying to figure everything out, trying to get his bearings.
"Shhh. You were dreaming." He said calmly.
Jack said nothing, he moved into a more comfortable position, the pain biting up through his arm.
"Do you want another pill?"
Normally Jack would have declined, he did not like admitting he was in pain, and he liked to deal with it by himself. But this was a different kind of pain from anything he had ever suffered before, this really was pain, he thought. He gave a brief nod of his head to Daniel, but he never had time to take it.
An explosion rocked the entire house and the bang was deafening. Jack instantly knew what was happening, C.T.U. had found him.
"Get down!" He screamed to Daniel seconds before the door was opened and a flash bang was thrown in. Jacks instincts took over and he squeezed his eyes shut and held his arm over his head as best he could, the bang still hurt his ears. He looked to see Daniel recovering and pulling out a gun.
"Daniel no! They will draw fire, stay down!" He screamed as the door flew opened and three men dressed in S.W.A.T gear rushed into the room, reading their weapons at both men before they knew which one was which. He hadn't realised it until that moment, when his brain finally registered what he had said, he really did care about him, after everything that had happened, he didn't want to see him be blown away, he didn't want it all to be for nothing. He watched the men, unsure why the team wasn't moving in.
That was when he herd Daniel shout, "Drop your weapons now or I will kill him."
Jack turned his head slightly from his position on the bed and saw Daniel holding his gun next to his temple. His mind went in overdrive, what was Daniel doing? He was mad, he had told Daniel to get down, he had tried to protect him, and now, didn't he really care about Jack?
"Daniel?" Jack said, confused.
"Shut up Jack, please." The pleading was evident in his voice., he didn't like what he was doing. It was strange but Jack felt some relief from it, either his brother didn't like threatening his life or he was going to feel guilty about killing him afterwards. (Nice!)
"Daniel put the gun down. We both know you wont shoot me..." He paused, deciding which way he was going to play it. "Or maybe you will.."
"Jack!" He warned.
"No, I mean, thinking about it, you practically killed me before, so what should stop you now?"
"Jack I mean it, shut up!" Daniel shouted, Jacks words hurting him.
"I'm only your brother anyway... not even close, are we? Not seen each other in over twenty years before today, hell, were strangers! You would kill a stranger; wouldn't you?"
Daniel was getting angry and confused, he knew what Jack was trying to do, disorientate him, but he wasn't going to let him.
Jack turned his head slightly so he could see Daniel better. "Go on. Do it. Put us both out of our miseries."
The look in Daniel's eyes told him everything he needed to know. Slowly he pulled himself up and carefully stepped away from the bed and edged his way towards the door. One of the S.W.A.T men assisted Jack as the other two restrained Daniel who had dropped his gun in defeat.
Jack turned around to face his brother, leaning on the unknown man for support. Biting through the pain he said, "You were planning on killing both of us at some time today with this bomb; but you can't pull a trigger that will end both our lives? Pathetic," He spat, angry at his brothers plans, "Some protest."
With that he turned and let the man help him out of the room before he passed out, his rage draining his body, and his confusion from the mixed emotions running freely inside of him pushing him onto the verge of a mental breakdown.
