She walked with a purpose down the hallways, glad she had taken the time to memorise the way she was taken when she had been freed from the room. She was outside the interrogation room in minutes and knew it was unlocked; why lock it when its guest was heavily restrained?
She took a deep breath and placed her game face on, silently anticipating the look on his face when he realised what she had done, she would savour it, she could already picture it. There would be a glint of surprise in his eyes, then anger as he realised he would have to rely on her to save him. There would be conflict on his face, but he would do a good job of hiding it - he had no trouble masking his feelings he did it with ease. But when he saw her he would watch in confusion, and when she told him what would happen he would tense, his jaw would clench and he'd probably blink his emotions away. He would be mad, and she would make sure she'd enjoy every moment of it. She was in control now.
She pushed through the door and watched as Jacks sweaty head turned to see her, he looked confused and annoyed; he thinks they sent me in here to get back at him, she realised. His face was swollen in places, and the start of the bruising she had seen earlier was now more pronounced, shades of blue and black starting to show, making his face look dirty. Blood from his nose had dried over his chin and down his neck; he didn't look to be in the best condition but she knew from experience the physical injuries would not matter, he ignored pain as though it wasn't there.
She stood before him with the keys in one hand the gun in the other as she placed her hands awkwardly on her hips.
"Kingsley and Mandras are both secured, unconscious. I'm getting out of here; question is - what are you willing to do to get out of here too?"
Jack looked down at his feet, she could almost hear his brain thinking as it worked out his options, the implications of her words; accepting that she was in the drivers seat and winning.
"Can you stop yourself from killing me until we get to CTU? Can I trust you to help me get out of here?"
Simple questions with complex answers, Jack thought, can I not kill here? The rational voice came in his mind telling him he didn't have a choice - if he didn't try he would probably be killed by some goons, and if he did kill her a nuclear bomb would detonate. He had to think of those innocent people, civilians - he couldn't let his blood lust get before that.
"Untie me Nina."
No room for any compromise in his voice, Nina smiled before leaning over and struggling with the straps which held him tightly in place, a smirk coming over her lips as she noticed how tense he had become while she was close to him. He was hating the close proximity between them, he was nervous of how he might react when he was free; I can not kill her.
Once he was free he waited for her to take a step back before standing up, he didn't want her to think he would try anything, or the consequences to that would be equally bad; she was still holding the gun.
"How many weapons did you find?" He was already back in the mind frame of Agent Bauer, dealing with a colleague, not the brutal killer he wanted to hurt so badly...
"One. That's all there was. There's got to be a supply somewhere as they were talking about taking the Fed's on, but I've no idea where. This place is like a maze and I've no idea how we get out."
"We need to get back to the holding cells, from they're we're home free."
Nina nodded in agreement, neither was sure of the way they had been taken, there were long thin passageways everywhere and the lack of light had made it impossible to spot any distinguishing marks along the way they had taken.
"You get a cell?"
Nina silently cursed herself for not thinking to call CTU herself, he would think she was slipping and see it as a window for opportunity. She silently handed one of the phones over to him, not telling him about the others, withholding information couldn't hurt, right?
He dialled Tony's direct line and was pleased to hear him answer on the first ring. Tony told him they had people searching the area, and Jack explained where they were, so the agents could get to them faster.
"What about Nina?" Tony asked, hoping that if she was dead Jack hadn't been the one to kill her.
"She's here. She is going to help me get us out of here, then give you all the information she has on the bomb. After the bombs been found we will award her with the pardon."
"You sure she's willing to co-operate with this?"
"She doesn't have a choice."
"Okay. ETA on the teams is 15 minutes, tops. Sit tight, we'll come and get you."
"Thanks." He hung the phone up, Nina was looking at him questionably.
"What now?"
"We wait."
"What we just sit here and wait for someone to come find us? That doesn't work for me Jack."
"Yeah well you don't have a choice. CTU teams will he here soon, they know where to find us."
Nina laughed, "I think you're mistaken Jack. I'm not waiting around to be killed, I'm getting out of here, to the top Barn at least."
"Nina-"
"I'm the one with the gun Jack," she stated threateningly, waving the gun in his direction. He didn't acknowledge her words, he didn't care about the gun.
"You try anything, Nina, and I mean anything, and your pardon goes out the window. I can make that happen, me, so you better start doing as I say."
"And if I don't?" Nina challenged, not happy with the way he had taken over the situation already.
"I thought you were smarter than this Nina, clearly I was wrong," Jack said, watching confusion slip onto Nina's face. "You told me you have Peter and Mandras contained. They are involved with the bomb, higher up the food chain than you, as you've been out of the scene for some time. What does that mean Nina, tell me," he said, humour in his voice, he was enjoying this. Nina knew exactly what he meant but said nothing. "That's right. If I have those two men I don't need you Nina, they will give me more information than you could even know. So you better watch your step Nina, its not like I need a reason to blow you away right now."
Jack continued to stare at her coldly, Nina looked at her feet, the gun now hanging loosely by her side. It might not intimidate Jack but she wouldn't let it go, if they were found before CTU came she would need to protect herself.
Trying to act unfazed she started pacing the room, her lips pursed together in irritation towards Jack. She dejectedly wondered if she had ever had any power over him throughout this ordeal, the fact that she had given in filled herself with pity and shame, he would be watching her and enjoying it, feeling good. He was laughing at her inside, she knew it, but there was nothing she could do about it.