OK, here's the second chapter. Thanks for my reviewers! I'm not sure how this story will turn out as I haven't planned it very far. If inspiration strikes, I'll try to continue it. There's maybe one or two more chapters after this that I've already written, after that we'll see what happens...
Christina knocked on the front door of a beautiful, Spanish style house and looked around at the garden appreciatively. Whoever this Jack was, he had someone taking a good care of the property.
The door opened and a young girl, no older than fifteen looked at her through the dividing door. Christina's motherly instincts stirred immediately at her sad face, the dried tears and shadows of many unslept nights.
"Can I help you?" The girl sounded tired.
"I'm not sure I'm in the right place…I'm looking for Jack Bauer."
The girl nodded. "He's my dad. Come in."
Christina closed the door behind her and looked worriedly after the young girl. Something very bad had happened in this house recently; that much was obvious.
Jack walked into the living room and glanced at the visitor who at the moment had her back to him and was looking out of the window.
"You were looking for me?"
The woman turned and he recognized her immediately. Nina's face.
"Are you Jack?" She observed him for a moment: if his daughter had looked sad, it was nothing compared to what she saw on this man's face. He looked like he hadn't slept for weeks, fair-coloured hair a mess, face unshaven.
"Yes."
She nodded. "I'm Christina Myers. My daughter asked me to come and see you."
Jack sighed. "How is she?"
"She's in the hospital but…"
Jack frowned. "She's still there?"
"Yes, there was a complication. She got an infection but she'll be fine." She took a break, wondering what to say. "She keeps calling for your name in her sleep. Why?"
He swallowed. "I don't know."
Christina smiled; he obviously did know. "What happened to you? Why haven't you been to see her?"
Jack bowed his head for a moment. "I'm sorry; I know I should have…"
"It's not me you should be apologizing for", she interrupted. "Do you work with her? At CTU?"
"She's my second-in-command", he agreed.
"But that's not all, is it?"
A hint of smile appeared on Jack's face; Nina had obviously inherited her people skills from her mother, she had always been able to get him talk about anything.
Christina sighed. "Tell me what happened."
He was silent for a moment. "I don't think that's relevant right now."
"I think it is relevant when my daughter spends her waking moments asking after you and when she's sleeping she still asks after you. It's quite obvious you are, or have been, lovers, so why haven't you been to see her, Jack?"
He walked closer. "That man who shot her…"
She nodded. "Tony… something."
"Tony Almeida." Even saying the name evoked a rage in him. "Before he shot your daughter he killed my wife. My wife and the mother of my daughter."
Christina swallowed and sat down on the nearest chair. "Dear God."
Jack laughed ironically. "Somehow I doubt God had anything to do with it. I don't think he cared at all, to be precise."
"I am so sorry, Jack. I know it doesn't help but…I'm really sorry."
"Thank you." He sighed. "Listen, tell Nina I'll try and come see her soon. Tell her I'm sorry for not having been there earlier."
"I understand." She hesitated. "Can I ask you something?"
Jack shrugged. "Sure."
"Nina…she sleeps too much and she doesn't want to talk about what happened, not to anyone. The doctor said it's post-traumatic stress and I agree but I think there's something else as well…she's never been like this. Maybe you know…why is she like that?"
He sighed. "They were dating."
"Excuse me?"
"She and Tony. They were having a relationship."
A cold look appeared in Christina's eyes. "My daughter was sleeping with the man who shot her? Who killed your wife?"
"Yes. And knowing Nina, she blames herself for not realizing it."
She buried her face into her hands.
"Jack, I know it's a lot to ask but please, can you go see her? I think you're the only person who can help her now."
He looked away. "I don't know."
"I'll stay here with your daughter", she offered, desperate now. "Please. You do care about her, don't you? Nina?"
"I do", he said, quietly.
"I know this is an awful time for you but she needs you." She got up and walked to him. "I just want to get her out of the hospital but in her present state she'll end up in there for months. She doesn't even want to go home anymore, it's like she's given up on everything. Even on life."
He watched her face; the resemblance to Nina was incredible. "She looks so much like you."
Christina smiled. "She has her father's colouring, though."
Jack nodded, glancing at her blonde hair and blue eyes. The sadness in them mirrored his and anger flared in him again: Tony had affected so many people with his actions.
"We need to help our children now, Jack", she said, as if reading his mind. "I'll try and help your daughter if you'll help mine. I'm a psychiatrist; it would do her good to talk."
He smiled briefly. "I'd better introduce you to her, then."
He turned to walk out of the room but her voice stopped him. "Jack?"
He turned back. "Yeah?"
"In case you were wondering…I'm not angry at you or my daughter for having an affair or whatever it was. I trust her ability to take care of herself and you don't seem completely senseless either."
Jack smiled. "That's good to know. Thank you."
He walked along the hospital corridor, his steps getting more and more reluctant as he neared her room. He had no idea how she would take to seeing him, or how much she knew about what had happened, but her mother was right: he needed to see her; they needed to help each other now.
An older man was leaning against the door, his eyes closed. Hearing Jack's footsteps, he turned his head, a faint glitter of recognition in his eyes.
"Jack Bauer?"
He nodded, varily, not knowing what to expect: a hug or a punch in the face. This man had to be Nina's father and he marvelled at the fact how she was a perfect combination of the best features of her parents. The man stretched out his hand.
"Paul Myers. Nina's father."
"Nice to meet you."
He looked in through the small window on the door; she appeared to be sleeping.
"She's been asking for you so…I guess you can just go in." Paul sounded very tired and worried, which was to be expected: he remembered Nina being very close to her family.
"How is she?" He was still a little reluctant to go in.
Paul shook his head, emotion flashing in his weary eyes. "If I didn't know she was my daughter I probably wouldn't have recognized her. It's like all her joy of life is just drained, like there's nothing she wants to live for anymore."
Jack sighed, quickly explaining to Paul the same he had told to Christina.
"My God." He sighed, shaking his head. "What have you two done in this life to deserve any of this?"
Jack laughed shortly. "How about breaking the Holy Matrimony? Sleeping with another woman while still married?"
Paul glanced at him. "I bet you're expecting me to give you a black eye for sleeping with my daughter?"
"I have to say I thought something like that might happen", he admitted and Paul smiled tiredly.
"I'm not that old-fashioned and I'm not stupid either; things like that happen all the time. You must be important to her since she keeps asking for you. That doesn't spell a ruined relationship."
"Yeah. Well, we'll see what happens when I go in there." He sighed. "I guess it's no use waiting any longer."
"Go on." Paul nodded. "And I'm very, very sorry about your wife, Jack."
He nodded. "Thank you."
Jack quietly closed the door behind him and walked to the bed, looking at her sleeping face. It didn't take him long to see she had been crying; her face was tearstained and it made his heart ache. Nina was so incredibly strong; she practically held the office together all by herself and she didn't cry. Never, not once had he seen her cry, not even when he had broken up with her.
He sat down on the chair that was next to her bed and wondered when she might wake up or if she even wanted to: he had spoken with her doctor briefly and heard most of her sleep was self-induced, not because she was tired but because she didn't want to be awake, didn't want to face the truth.
A nurse tiptoed into the room, a friendly smile on her face. She checked the monitor and made a few scribbles to Nina's card.
"You're welcome to wake her up. She's been sleeping enough." She whispered and Jack smiled.
"She might get mad if I did that."
"Go on, give her a good shake. She can't sleep all day." The nurse closed the door and Jack turned his eyes back to Nina.
"Well, I have a formal permission now…" He grasped her uninjured shoulder gently and shook her. "Nina?"
She muttered something but didn't wake up and he shook again. "Nina! You're going to wake up, right now, whether you want to or not."
Green eyes fluttered open, a furious expression forming in them before she realized who it was.
"Jack?"
"It's me." He sat back down on the chair, sighing. "How are you feeling?"
Nina turned her head away. "I'm fine."
She swallowed; in just a few seconds she had seen in his eyes an answer to every question she had had. She knew Teri was dead and she had absolutely no idea what to say.
"I…"
"I'm sorry I haven't been to see you earlier", he quietly said and she looked back at him, stunned that he worried about something like that.
"Quit pretending, Jack. You don't have to, not with me."
"What are you talking about?"
Nina sighed. "She's dead, isn't she? I can see it in your eyes."
Jack looked away. "Yes."
Nina closed her eyes. "God, I'm so sorry." She winced at the stupidity of her own words. "I don't know…what to say."
He shook his head. "You don't have to say anything."
She sat up a little. "Come here."
She pulled him to her and he hid his face against her chest, tears finally overflowing from his eyes. He hadn't cried properly since finding Teri's body; all his strength and time had gone into taking care of Kim.
She held him, feeling his entire body shake and allowed her own tears to fall again as well.
They stayed like that for a long time, just holding onto each other and crying, until he finally lifted his head, wiping away the tears from his face and taking a proper look at her.
He couldn't blame her parents for being worried about her: the normally animated green eyes looked strangely empty, her face was pale and drawn and she had lost a lot of weight from her already slender frame.
She laughed a little, nervous, wiping her face. "Don't look at me like that. I know I don't look very good right now."
"You look like I'd expect you to look in this situation." He smiled a little. "I met your parents."
"Oh."
"They're very nice."
"Most of the time." She lay back down and sighed, looking out of the window.
"Don't you think you should get up? Your doctor said you're healing well."
"I don't really want to", she said, quietly. "What's there to get up for?"
He touched a finger to her cheek, gently forcing her to look at him.
"Did you love him? Tony?"
Nina snorted. "Hardly."
"Why are you so upset then?"
"Because he betrayed us. Because I slept with him for months and all the time he was planning this."
Her eyes flashed at him. "I feel dirty, Jack. I feel used, I feel like he raped me or… something. I keep thinking about every touch and it makes me want to throw up."
He nodded. "I understand."
"Really? Did you sleep with him too?"
A smile twitched the corners of his mouth. "Not that I know of."
She laughed and shook her head, getting serious. "I'm sorry, Jack. Your loss is so huge; I don't have any right to complain about what happened to me."
"Of course you do. You were shot by the man you were dating; he tried to kill you. It must have been a huge shock."
"I keep thinking about everything, every conversation, anything that I missed. He must have said something, given some clues…"
"I don't think he did." He got up to pace the room. "They're trying to do the same thing over at CTU; he's covered his tracks perfectly. There's absolutely nothing."
"And Jamey?"
"I think he must have recruited her to help, and when she was caught he killed her to stop her from saying anything that might have led us to his tracks."
Nina shook her head. "I can't believe he's such a cold-blooded murderer. It's impossible."
Tears rose into her eyes again. "I can't believe it."
He gave her hand a squeeze. "I know. Listen, I should be getting back to Kim. Your mum is there keeping her company."
"That's good, I guess. She's good in making people talk. How's Kim doing?"
He shook his head, pulling his coat on. "Not good. Not good at all."
She nodded. "I'm so sorry. Tell her…tell her I'm thinking of her, OK?"
"Sure. I'll be back to see you tomorrow."
"OK." She watched him close the door after him and sighed, the hopeless feeling washing over her once again. How the hell were their lives supposed to get back on track after this?
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