Here I am back again with another story. I'm probably way too hung up with the lives of the 24 characters and should consider professional help!
This story picks up in the late afternoon on Day 4. It begins to deviate from the storyline on the show as of about 2 or 2:30 pm.
All of the usual disclaimer stuff applies: Fox owns the characters, I don't and if I did I wouldn't spend my time writing fanfiction! The title isn't original either. That belongs to Norah Jones. (My understanding is that we can no longer include lyrics of songs that inspire our titles. If you want to know the lyrics I'm sure you can find them on line.)
So, if you've got a few spare minutes, please read. If you read, do me a favor and review. So I know if this is worth continuing.
COME AWAY WITH ME (Title inspired by the Norah Jones song.)
Chapter 1:
"Ms. Dessler, I have Jack Bauer on line three."
Michelle was going through a file of fresh intel that appeared to be totally useless. If they didn't find the override and shut down the reactors in the next hour, the rest of the reactors were going to go critical. CTU had had so many successes in the past, but she was afraid that their record was going to end here, on her watch.
She knew the situation was bleak an hour ago when Erin Driscoll had been relieved of her duties as CTU director because of her involvement with Marianne Taylor and her further attempts to cover that up. Michelle had been named acting director, a job she had never wanted. She had watched that job destroy too many lives: Jack, George, Tony. If you wanted to get technical about it, the job had destroyed her life, too at the same time it destroyed Tony's.
CTU lost track of Jack over two hours ago. He and other agents from CTU had raided a hotel room where they found Dina Araz holed up. Araz was persuaded to take Jack to her son who was at a nearby hospital trying to procure pain relievers for her. Picking up the 17 year old looked easy enough. Jack had plenty of back up and the kid wasn't armed. Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned and CTU was ambushed at the hospital.
Two tactical units were sent in to help but arrived too late. All of the CTU agents who went in with Jack were dead, as was Araz's son. Jack and his vehicle were both missing and so was Dina Araz.
"Thank goodness!" Michelle said relieved to hear that Jack had finally called in. "'Three' is a secure line, Molly. Why is he on 'three'?" Michelle asked.
"He requested a secure line, ma'am."
"That's fine, Molly. Put him through." Michelle waited until she heard the line click open. "Jesus Christ, Jack! Where the hell have you been?"
Jack ignored her question. "We've got the override, Michelle, and we're on our way back. Our ETA is about 20 minutes."
"Good work! Where have you been for the last two hours? Why did you go dark? We didn't know if you were dead or alive. We lost Dina Araz during the shootout at the hospital. Is she with you?"
"I'm sorry, Michelle. I couldn't call in. After we were ambushed at the hospital, I was pretty sure that Marianne Taylor wasn't the only mole at CTU. That's why I asked for a secure line. I've got Dina Araz. I'll give you all of the details in my debrief, but she finally agreed to give up the names of some of the higher ups in their organization. That eventually led us to the override."
"How did you persuade Araz to give you those names?" Michelle asked not really sure if she wanted to know Jack's methods. Jack had been trained in Special Forces and he knew modes of torture that Michelle probably didn't want to hear about.
"Let's just say that pain is a big motivator even when you believe in your cause."
"Is she still alive?" Michelle asked almost afraid to hear the answer.
"Yes, but she'll need medical attention. That gun shot wound courtesy of her husband still needs to be treated and she's lost a lot of blood." Jack didn't want to talk about Dina Araz right now. As far as he was concerned, she was less than human and he had been nicer to her than he should have been. When she begged him to kill her earlier, he would have happily done it but she had information he needed and he intended to get it out of her.
"Michelle, do you have the programmers for the override there at CTU."
"Yes, Jack, they got here about 45 minutes ago. We're set up in Tech 1. As soon as you get here, they'll go to work on it. They both think they can halt the meltdowns without much trouble. They said there are several possible sequences that should work. They're very optimistic."
"Good," Jack said. "We'll be there as soon as we can."
"Jack, why do you keep saying 'we'? Who is with you? I thought you were alone."
Jack exhaled slowly. "Michelle, Tony is with me."
Michelle was silent for a moment. "Tony? Tony Almeida?"
"Yes"
"Is he sober?" she asked with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
"I'm not going to dignify that with an answer, Michelle. This is a matter of national security. I wouldn't have him here if he weren't fit for duty, you know that."
"What is Tony doing with you, Jack?"
"I thought you knew that he saved Audrey and me when we were at Fellsted Security."
"Yes, but Audrey told us that Tony asked you to finish what you were doing and get out. I was going to have him brought in tomorrow morning to debrief. I would have brought him in this afternoon, but we were busy and I didn't think I would find him sober in the middle of the afternoon. I figured my best bet was to wait until early morning before he could start drinking."
"Well, you can debrief both of us when we get to CTU." Jack's phone beeped to tell him that the battery was low. "Look, Michelle, I'm going to hang up. The battery in my cell is getting low. Our ETA is under 15 minutes. Don't tell anyone that we have the override until we get there. We still don't know if there is another mole inside. Do me a favor and let Audrey know that I'm alright. I'm sure she's worried."
"Audrey's in medical. She was pretty upset earlier so Dr. Copeland gave her a mild sedative. If she's awake, I'll tell her personally. I know she'll be relieved," Michelle told him.
"Thank you, Michelle"
"I'll see you soon, Jack," Michelle said. She hung up from Jack's call and dialed Chloe's station. "Chloe, arrange to have two debriefing rooms set up."
"Who are we debriefing?" Chloe asked.
"Jack and Tony are on their way in. They both need to be debriefed. I want it done separately."
"Tony? Your Tony?"
"Yes, Chloe. Tony Almeida."
"Who do you want to do the debriefs? I mean, do you want to debrief Tony yourself?"
"No, I've got more important things to do today than a debrief. Find someone to do it."
Of all the complications that Michelle didn't need today, Tony was on the top of her list. Just when she was putting her life back together, Jack was going to waltz into CTU with Tony and it was going to start all over again.
When Tony got home from prison ten months earlier, Michelle thought the nightmare was over and their wonderful life together would become a reality again. Unfortunately, she was wrong. Tony came home from prison bitter and mad at the world. She understood why he was angry, but thought he should be able to put it behind him. They were together again and to her, that was all that mattered. Snuggling up against him at night and eating dinner with him when she got home from work made her forget the months they had spent apart. For Tony, they were a reminder of all that he had missed.
He was home a couple of weeks before he started looking for a job. He was excited about it at first but soon realized that every potential employer knew his history. His trial had been covered by CourtTV and was the lead story on every newscast for two weeks. His pardon by President Palmer had been controversial and Palmer had been roundly criticized for it. No traitor had ever been pardoned and many thought Palmer had set a dangerous precedent.
After the first few rejections, Tony's bitterness increased. He started drinking. At first, Michelle didn't think it was a problem. She would come home and find him fixing dinner with a beer or a mixed drink in his hand. He would have another for dinner and a couple more through the evening. She told herself that it was helping him to relax. Soon she knew that it was more than that. By the time she got home, Tony would be clearly intoxicated and sometimes passed out on the sofa. If he wasn't asleep, he was angry and withdrawn and would barely talk to her. When she asked him to get help, he refused. She put up with it for a while, hoping that it was a passing phase. Finding that ignoring it didn't work, she became confrontational and argued with him about his drinking. That resulted in him leaving the house to drink. He would be gone 15 or 16 hours at a time without contacting her. He came home to sleep off the after effects during the day while Michelle was at work.
The situation finally became unbearable and Michelle asked Tony to leave. She knew that he still loved her and hoped that such a drastic measure would shock him back into reality. Instead, he surprised her by packing his things and leaving. She watched in stunned silence as he walked out the door without saying goodbye.
It was months before thoughts of Tony stopped plaguing her every moment she was awake. She had finally started to get him out of her system and now he was back again.
Jack ended his call to Michelle and put his phone in his pocket. Dina Araz was in the back seat moaning quietly.
"We'll be at CTU in a few minutes, Mrs. Araz. They'll be able to get you something for the pain," he said then looked at Tony. "CTU is all set up and waiting for the override. The programmers are in place."
"Good," Tony said his eyes scanning the road and the rearview mirror as he drove. "I take it Michelle was there."
"Yes, she's acting director. Erin Driscoll was relieved of her command."
Tony raised his had to his mouth to suppress a cough. "Let me guess, Michelle made some wisecrack about my drinking."
Jack looked down embarrassed, not wanting to be in the middle of Tony and Michelle's domestic squabble. "Look, Tony, you know you've been drinking too much. That's one of the reasons Michelle left in the first place."
"Yeah, well I don't have a lot to fill my day. Drinking takes up some of the time and if I'm lucky, when I'm not drinking, I can sleep it off."
"Tony, I know you don't believe me, but I've been there. I've been at the bottom…"
"No, Jack, you and I have been to different places. You lost your wife when she was murdered. I lost my wife after I saved her life and went to prison for it and she left me when I needed her most."
"You had a funny way of showing her that you needed her, Tony. You pushed her and everyone else away. You wouldn't let any of your friends or family help you. I know you're bitter about those months in prison and I don't blame you, but you have to put it behind you and start over," Jack paused and allowed his tone to soften. "Okay, I'll admit our stories are different. But we both ended up hitting rock bottom. And the bottom line is that I needed to reconcile with Kim and you need to reconcile with Michelle. I found a way to do that. I'm not going to tell you it was easy, but I stopped drifting and went back to work and made peace with Kim. You need to do the same thing."
"You make it sound so easy. I seem to remember you had a little foray with heroin in there, too." He was going to say more but started coughing again and couldn't finish before Jack spoke.
"I don't deny that and I didn't say it was easy. The heroin destroyed my relationship with Kate. When I finally got clean again, she had moved on and I lost her forever. I regret that; I loved Kate. Don't let that happen, Tony. If you don't clean up your act soon, Michelle is going to move on and then you won't ever have a chance to get her back."
Tony tried to concentrate on the road. He knew that Jack was staring at him but he didn't look in Jack's direction.
"Tony, I can help you find a job. If you get a job and do something useful with your time, you won't need to drink any more. If you stop drinking, Michelle is going to take you back. She loves you as much as you love her. Think about it, Tony. Let me help you."
Tony said nothing. He stared at the road in front of him. He took the next left knowing that CTU was only blocks away and Michelle would be there when he got there.
While she waited for Jack and Tony to arrive, Michelle decided to walk back to medical and talk to Audrey Raines. As she made her way back there, she passed the conference room where Secretary of Defense Heller was helping to direct the emergency response by the National Guard and the local authorities. Michelle stepped into the room.
"Secretary Heller," Michelle said.
"Yes, Michelle," he answered.
"I thought you might like to know that I just talked to Jack Bauer. He's fine and he's on his way here. He should be here in about 15 minutes."
"Where has he been? Why haven't we heard from him until now?"
"He wouldn't say where he's been. He said he'll give us all of the details when we debrief him. Like all of us, he's concerned with security. He feels that CTU is still compromised." Michelle left out the fact that Jack had the override. She wasn't sure whether the mole was a CTU employee or someone working with Secretary Heller. "He asked me to tell your daughter that he's okay. He doesn't want her to have to worry."
"I went back to see her a few minutes ago. She's awake now and a lot calmer. I can go back and tell her."
"No, that's okay. I'll tell her. I have to go back toward medical anyway." The statement was true enough. Michelle wanted to tell the medical director that Dina Araz was on her way in and in need to medical care, but she could have done that over the phone. She wanted to talk to Audrey Raines herself. She wanted to see what Audrey's take on Tony was. Jack was hardly objective on the subject of Tony. Michelle knew that Jack felt guilty about getting Tony involved in the whole plot to buy the virus. Consequently, he felt guilty about Tony going to prison and this whole downward spiral that Tony had allowed to occur.
She stepped into medical and waved to Dr. Copeland who was talking to one of the nurses.
"Hey, Michelle," he said as he walked toward her. "What brings you back to medical?"
"Hi, Lenny. Two reasons, there's a prisoner on the way in with a gunshot wound. I need to make sure you're set up to take care of her. The ETA is about 10 minutes.
"Not a problem, I'll get the trauma room set up. What was your second reason?"
"I wanted to talk to Audrey Raines, if I could."
"She's back in room 5. She's much better now. She's a little sleepy, but she can carry on a conversation. Go ahead and see her."
"Thanks, Len."
Michelle knocked on the door to room 5.
"Come in." She heard from behind the closed door.
"Mrs. Raines," she said extending her hand. "I'm Michelle Dessler, acting Director of CTU."
Audrey immediately recognized the name. She knew this was Tony's wife, but she thought Michelle was working at Division.
"Acting Director? What happened to Erin Driscoll?"
"Erin's been relieved of her command. I was asked to step into the role for the time being."
"It's nice to meet you," Audrey said.
"I just spoke with Jack and he wanted you to know that he's okay and he's on his way here right now."
"Oh, what a relief!" Audrey exclaimed. "I was so worried about him. Thank you for telling me. Did he find the override? He was going after that man who he thought could lead him to the override."
"That information is all on a 'need to know' basis right now, Mrs. Raines. I can't share it with you now."
"I understand," she nodded. "Please, call me Audrey."
"Audrey, I read your debrief after the incident at Fellsted Security."
"I'm sorry, it probably wasn't even coherent. I was so upset at that point I could barely talk."
"No, it was fine. I'm sorry we had to put you through that at that time. Unfortunately we needed to get all possible information. You didn't say how Jack got in touch with Tony Almeida."
"Jack called him. He had the number programmed in his cell phone. He said Tony was the only person he could trust."
"When you were with Tony, did he appear to you to be fit for duty?"
Audrey smiled and looked away for a second. "Ms. Dessler…" she said as she made eye contact.
"Michelle," she corrected her.
"Ok, Michelle. I know that you're married to Tony Almeida, so if this is some kind of game where you are looking for me to provide you with some ammunition to use against him, I won't be a part of it."
"It's no game, Audrey. I'm trying to determine if Tony was fit to be working with Jack because apparently after you left Tony's house, Tony and Jack went into the field together. Tony has been acting as a field agent for the last few hours and I need to know what condition he was in when you last saw him."
"If you are asking whether or not he was drunk, the answer is no. Michelle, right now, Tony Almeida is just a notch below Jack on my list of knights in shining armor. He saved Jack's and my lives a few hours ago. I have nothing bad to say about him."
"You told Dr. Copeland that you had a beer while you were at his house. Is that true?"
"Yes, that's true. He offered and I accepted. I'm over 21, I'm allowed to drink a beer when I want one. At that moment I was hoping that it would relax me a little bit."
"Were Jack and Tony drinking?"
"Jack declined, but I think Tony had one beer while I was there. He wasn't drunk by any stretch of the imagination."
There was a knock at the door and Dr. Copeland put his head in. "Michelle, Chloe just called, Jack and Tony are here. The prisoner is being brought to medical."
"Thanks, Len," she said then turned back to Audrey. "I'll send Jack back to see you as soon as possible."
"Thank you," Audrey said as Michelle turned to leave. "Michelle," she called after her. "This is none of my business and, God knows, I've made a shambles out of my own marriage, but for what it's worth, I don't think it would take all that much to straighten Tony's life out. He genuinely loves you and misses you. He knows that he's reached the bottom and I think if someone gave him a hand, he might be ready to come back out into the sunshine." Audrey shrugged. "That's just my opinion."
"Thanks," Michelle said nodding. "I'll keep that in mind."
