Authors Note: For Monkeydude, I would have e-mailed you this answer but I couldn't get your e-mail address. I should really have put this in the prologue note, but that was already running long and I know how long Authors Notes can turn people off from a story. This story will most likely take place over the course of a day, or up to a day and a half but no, it won't work on a one chapter equals one hour system. I did consider it, but in the end I decided it would be much more freeing to move time the way I felt it needed to move in the story. Also I can pace my chapters much better without having to worry too much about fitting everything into a precise 24 chapter limit. Anyway, I've now finished watching season 3 and am rather happy it didn't screw up my plans in any serious way. In fact it actually complemented them quite nicely! Read on and enjoy…
CHAPTER ONE: MESSAGES
Four Days Later
New York City: 3:04pm
The bags weighed heavy in Kim Bauer's hands as she lugged them up the flight of stairs to her apartment, the thin supermarket plastic rustling loudly to the accompaniment of her footsteps on the wooden floorboards. Today had been a good day. After three months of gruelling effort setting up the computer networks for the fledgling New York CTU branch, she'd finally earned herself a day off, a day she'd spent doing all the things she'd never had time to do until now. She'd toured some of the cities more famous landmarks, wandered around her new neighbourhood so that she could get her bearings and even done some shopping, something she was already beginning to regret as she mounted her third and final flight of stairs, the heavy bags banging against her legs as she moved.
There was someone sat at the top of the flight of stairs, his back propped up against one of the old carved wooden struts that supported the decorated ceiling, a broad shaft of mid afternoon sunlight spilling across his face. His eyes were closed, and he appeared to be snoozing, his chest moving in a deep easy rhythm as each breath disturbed the moat of dust particles in the air around him. There was no mistaking who it was either. That thick dark hair crossed with those handsome yet careworn features made him unmistakeable.
"Tony!" she said, her voice ringing with surprise. Tony Almeida's eyes opened quickly, spinning rapidly to face her.
"Hey Kim." He said, his face splitting with his trademark slanted grin. "How've you been?" Kim blinked. That she hadn't been expecting this was perhaps the understatement of the year.
"Never mind how I'm doing." She said as she began her ascent of the stairs again. "What are you doing out here?"
"Michelle told me you'd moved out here." Tony replied, sliding to his feet. "I was in the neighbourhood and figured I'd drop by."
Kim reached the top of the stairs and looked him up and down, trying her best not to look too wary.
"But aren't you…"
"Supposed to be in prison?" Tony said. Kim shifted uncomfortably as his smile spread even wider.
"Well, I didn't want to put it quite like that but…aren't you?" Tony raised his hands, in a gesture of mock surrender.
"No. You're looking at a strictly private citizen." He said.
"Really?" Kim said, a slow smile beginning to creep across her face.
"Really." Tony replied. Kim's smile split wide open as she dropped the shopping bags and ran to hug her former boss. At last some good news, even if it wasn't regarding her. Her life hadn't exactly been going that well these past few years, and it was a relief to see that sometimes things did work out better than they had a right to.
"Tony that's great. It really is." She said her voice nothing but genuine. Tony returned the hug in a decidedly less enthusiastic fashion. He'd always been a closed kind of guy and doubtless her sudden emotion was embarrassing him.
Slowly she untangled himself from him so as not to humiliate him further and moved for the door to her apartment.
"If you just give me minute to drop these inside and check my messages, then we can go for coffee or something, and you can fill me in on everything." Tony nodded.
"Sure. There's something I need to talk to you about anyway." He said as he crossed to stand in the apartment door, his eyes roving across the small living room.
"Nice place you got here." He said. Kim dropped the bags on the table in the small kitchen area.
"I should hope so." She called back as she crossed the room, a little embarrassed by the mess of previously worn clothes and various elements of her work that were strewn across the apartment. "It costs me enough in rent. That and this phone bill…" It took her a moment or two of hunting around the couch cushions to find her cordless phone, buried as it was beneath a collapsed stack of network bug reports. She quickly tapped in the code for her message service, her fingers drumming rhythmically against the plastic as she waited.
"You have one new message" the automated playback spoke jarringly in her ear, its familiar patchwork audio grating on her nerves. There was a resounding beep and then the line went quiet save for the caller's breathing. Finally the caller spoke.
"Kim? Kim you there?" She froze, her whole body stiffening at the sound of his voice. Why couldn't he just stop calling? She didn't want to speak to him now. Everything was still too fresh, too painful.
"Come on Kim, pick up the phone. I know you're there. You're cell phones off again, the way it always is. Please just pick up the phone and talk to me." The line went quiet again. She could feel them now, tears stinging her eyes and cooling her cheeks. She turned her back to Tony, desperately trying not to let him see her crying.
"Please Kim. I just want to talk. I…I miss you." There was a final click as the caller placed the phone back on its cradle, unceremoniously ending the message. It took Kim a moment to realise she'd been holding her breath. She let out a long slow sigh, sniffing slightly to cry and clear her mind. 'I miss you' was all she could hear.
The hand on her shoulder made her start.
"Kim? You okay?" She gave another sniff and nodded.
"Yeah." She said, cringing at just how pathetic her lie must sound. "I'm fine."
"You sure?" she nodded again.
"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"
"You just seemed a little… I don't know, agitated?"
"It's nothing really. I'm fine." She turned to face him, wondering idly just how obvious her tears must be.
"Okay." Said Tony, not so much as batting an eyelid at the sight of her red-rimmed eyes. "You wanna go get that coffee now?" She gave a third, slightly more impassioned nod.
"Yeah, c'mon." she walked over to the door, grabbing for a thin tan summer jacket as she passed the coat stand while Tony followed close behind her.
"Who was that by the way?"
"Huh?" Kim frowned.
"On the phone just then. Who left you the message?"
"Oh…" she paused as she glanced back into the apartment. "Nobody important." She said before turning and setting off down the stairs.
