Disclaimer: I don't own 24 or any of the characters. Unfortunately. This is just for fun

The following takes place between 12 p.m. and 1 p.m.

12:00:01 --- 12:00:02 --- 12:00:03 --- 12:00:04

CTU

"Emergency protocol procedures NOW! MOVE, PEOPLE!" Even to Tony his voice sounds loud and booming in the chaos that immediately followed the blackout. He tries the phones. Nothing. "Son of a bitch!", he utters.

Catherine's screams aren't the only ones resounding in the building yet she is the closest. Tony runs over to her. "Catherine, we're getting help." Tony attends her calmly and helps her away from her desk. Her face, neck, and hands are burned and cut from flying glass - not severly but enough so that it was painful. "Try to stay as calm as possible." He needs to check the rest of his team.

"Michelle?" He doesn't get an immediate response which worries him. "Michelle!"

the woods

The explosion seems to rattle everything in its wake, leaving Kim to only wonder what it took out and what has happened to Joey. Taking a chance, she steps from the small cave to glance around. There are sounds of movement and shouting in the distance further from her but she doesn't see Joey.

A helicopter is flying away from her. What did Joey say? "The longer you stay here, the lesser your chances." Kim silently thanked Joey, double-checked that she had the gun, and made a mad dash for the trail he had told her to stay on. She knew she couldn't focus on what was behind her, if she turned around it would only slow her down. She had to move forward as fast as possible.

CTU

It is as if the entire world has gone black. Lisa had just brought up her entire system again and was regaining contact with the security cameras when the sparks flew. Emergency protocol required that flashlights be in every room so she simply crawled on her hands and knees until she found one to switch on and then made her way out.

The entire place was chaotic. But she found Tony yelling.

"Where's your mainframe? Which direction?", she asked.

He didn't have time for this. "Right corridor, second door to the right."

"The generator?" Lisa knew they had one. All CTU branches did.

"It'll kick on in 15."

She nodded and ran to the room he had indicated.

CTU office

Michelle runs into the main office from a corridor and shines her torch around the office: "Tony! I'm okay. What happened?", she utters, but the question doesn't really need to be answered. The chaos and the screaming people, the fuming hardware... Either a short-circuit or... She recollects herself and gets the first aid kit, walking over to Catherine and trying to do the best she can, before the medics get there.

Then Jack comes to mind. Could he have done this? "Tony! Where's Lisa?" , Michelle questions.

Relieved to see Michelle, Tony nearly dismisses her question. "Lisa? She's checking on the mainframe, probably to see if it's-" But he stops abruptly. "Why does it matter?" And then it hits him. Of course it matters. "Jack. That's it.", it hits him. "The generator will power up in a few minutes. Michelle, I'm going to trust you to take charge.", he says and goes off.

Shining his flashlight at the nearest security guards, Tony calls them to action. "Jack Bauer is likely somewhere near our communications system. We need to find him a.s.a.p. Darrin, take the southeast exit nearest the stairs to the garage. Todd, take the southwest. I'm heading towards Tech 1. Remember, Jack knows what he's doing."

The guards fan out, Tony is on his own, weapon drawn before him.

the woods

Mick catches up with Joey: "JOEY! Freeze! Hands up!" The other two guys come from different sides and take Joey at gunpoint as well. Joey complies. It's the end of the road. The only thing he can do is hope that Kim is on her way out of there by now. Mick disarms Joy and forces him to his knees.

"Where is she! WHERE IS SHE!", Mick shouts, the gun to Joey's temple.

Joey remains silent, his eyes straight ahead.

"WHERE IS SHE!", Mick yells again, hitting Joey across the face. Blood starts trickling from a cut on his cheek.

"I don't know.", Joey answers, accentuating every word. It's obviously a lie, although not because he 's a bad liar.

"This is leading nowhere." Mick takes out his radio. "Nick! I've got Joey. Kim's gone."

"Bring him in! I'll deal with him. Have the other guys continue the search."

"Copy." Nick replaces the radio and grabs Joey by the collar of his combat jacket. "Up! Nick wants to talk to you." He picks Joey up and they start walking him back towards the house. Along the way, they meet the other group of men that Nick sent after Kim and Joey and direct them to where they found Joey, as it seems likely Kim would be close to there.

CTU

The corridor is dark except for the small light of his flashlight. Tony moves swiftly, though silently, expecting to run into Jack any moment now. "Jack! There's no good ending to this. What I need to know is why?", he shouts, hoping that Jack will talk before firing. They haven't been on great terms lately.

Tony skirts each corner carefully in anticipation of a confrontation. But nothing, no one. He's coming to the end of the hall, nearing the stairs. His flashlight casts an open area before him and then... a shadow falls in the rays. Tony is now directly before the stairwell. He immediately understands he's found Jack. Pulling the slide of the weapon back to chamber a round and shining the flashlight in the height of where he thinks Jack's eyes are, he speaks.

"My weapon is drawn and the exits are blocked. You have no way out." He moves forward slowly until he is able to clearly make out a profile, next a face. "Come on Jack. Turn around, hands on the wall. It's over."

Jack gets up slowly, facing Tony. The beam of the flashlight in his face is almost blinding. He puts a hand before his eyes. No, Tony, it's only beginning, he tells himself. "Tony, I know you're just doing your job. But trust me, arresting me won't help solve the crisis that we're in."

"Just turn around Jack. Give me your weapon. You know the drill.", Tony doesn't lose aim as he orders him this.

This time, Jack complies, with a loud sigh. And with Nick in his ear, there's nothing he can do. But he does say: "This is a big mistake, Tony.", a statement Tony naturally ignores.

"Now put your hands on your head and interlock your fingers. Slowly." Tony grabs Jacks arms, one by one, locks the handcuffs in place and forcefully pulls him out of the dark corner and into the corridor. "This is it, Jack. I don't know what's up but you're about to tell me.", he threatens, pushing Jack ahead of him. Jack hears nothing from Nick. As he is lead through the familiar corridors and doors, his mind is racing. What do these people actually want him to do here? Will Kim live through this? Now that he's in custody, they won't need her anymore...

Tony leads Jack back into the main CTU office so he can witness the trouble he caused. "See? Look at your victims."

the woods

RUN! The word pounded in Kim's head like a hammer. Run she did, as fast as she could.

Soon, she was uphill and at the end of the trail. And at the location of the massive explosion. She sees a few corpses, as black as the smoke hovering over the van. The smell of fuel burning was almost as unbareable as knowing that the vehicle hit was to be her escape. The realization throws her into a panic. Light-headed for a moment, she stumbles across the road and vomits into the brush.

But she knows she has to pick herself up and keep going or they'll be after her, as Joey warned. Kim stops. It's the first thought she's had of Joey in a few minutes. What did they do to him? She didn't want to think, maybe her dad could get back to him in time. If she got out. Trying to ignore the nausea she's still feeling, she tries to think of another way to keep her freedom. She can't wait around for them to find her again.

A gas station couldn't be far. Nick would need supplies and fuel for the vehicles he had brought to the compound.

Kim takes out straight ahead, past the burning van and prays she's right.

CTU

The power comes back up and in the bright office light, the chaos becomes visible. Michelle glances up from Catherine to see Tony and a handcuffed Jack. Was this really Jack's work? "Catherine, can I leave you alone for a moment?" Catherine, though scared, nods yes.

Michelle walks up to Jack and Tony and although she knows that if Jack is really responsible for this, he probably had no choice, she is upset and has to confront him. "Jack, what's going on? Was this you?"

Jack only lightly shakes his head: "Michelle, don't."

"Jack, the hardware is busted, all our data are probably gone. It's going to take days to recover everything, if we even can. How could you-"

"Michelle, stop.", Jack interrupts her. Only his eyes give away his thoughts, thoughts he cannot express. "Don't do this."

Michelle remembers the situation he's in. He wouldn't have done this if he didn't have to. She lets go. But she stands there glaring at Jack.

Jack: "I have nothing to say right now." He looks at Tony. "Do what you have to do."

Tony shoots a look at Michelle. It's only too clear that she was as shocked as everyone else. But now there's work to do and a crime to be solved. He pushes Jack forward towards the nearest interrogation room. "You bet I'll do what I have to do. Al, grab the door." The guard opens the door and Tony forceably places Jack into the lone chair at the table.

"Are you happy!" He's baring down on Jack now, right in his face. "What could possibly motivate you to blow our communications and information system! Is this what you want? A legacy like this? Jack Bauer, the great CTU agent who's wife was killed by the woman who he had an affair with and now he's all but lost contact with everyone he ever knew!" Tony gets directly by his ear and whispered loudly, "Congratulations, Jack."

Then he sees it. An earpiece. "Who's listening to us?" Tony yells as he pulls the piece out just as Lisa through open the door.

"Tony, stop! You don't know what you're doing!", Lisa shouts

Tony ignores her and glares at Jack. "WHO IS THIS!" He shakes the piece at him fiercely.

Nick's place

Nick walks back inside the house and decides to check up on Jack. "WHO IS THIS!", he hears somebody shouting through the receiver. He sits down to listen in.

CTU

Jack glances at Lisa briefly. He's glad she's there. "I don't know." It's the truth. "I don't know, Tony, that's exactly what I need to find out." But he's not going to say more. He can't. "Look, if you need to put me behind bars for this, go ahead. I'm guilty. I'm sorry about what happened. No-one was meant to get hurt. But I can't talk about this." Not here. Not now. , Jack thinks to himself.

Nick's place

Nick grins. The plan is working out. Jack's taking the fall as planned. He walks away from the receiver and radios the helicopter pilot. "Ted, see if you can find Kim. Follow the road, don't come back if you don't get her!" The door of the house opens and Mick walks in, pushing Joey ahead of him and into the room.

CTU

"Excuse me?" Tony is astonished by what he is hearing. The nerve of this man, thinking he is above everyone else and the law. "You're sorry but you can't talk about this? Wow, that's just great, Jack."

He drops the earpiece to the ground while looking into Jack's eyes, though they aren't really looking back at him. "You have no conscience. Neither does whoever you're working for." Tony brings his shoe down directly on top of the piece, crushing it.

"NO!" Lisa pushes him aside and collects the pieces. Jack's tone, the way he's acting... it doesn't fit a man trying to bring down his own government. "Why would you do something like this? At the very least it's evidence!"

"You don't work here, Lisa! You're only here because George wouldn't kick you out and I don't have the authority to do so!"

Lisa stands and gets into Tony's face. "That's exactly right. Now GET OUT!"

Tony exits, but not without a final word. "I'll find out what's going on, Jack. No matter what you told Michelle, there's always something else. And you'll go down for this!" He walks out slamming the door behind him.

Nick's place

The cracking sound in the receiver tells Nick the earpiece is gone. He turns the receiver off, it's of no use. Time for Plan B. But first... He turns to Joey.

"You know I don't have much time, so don't waste it. Tell me what your collegues at the FBI know. And don't give me the I don't know what you're talking about bull. I know everything about you."

Joey is a little surprised Nick knows about him being with the FBI, how did he find out? At that moment, he realizes Kim might not have made it to the van. But he remains silent, as he tries to keep his face expressionless and unreadable. There isn't anything to say, really.

Nick kicks him hard into the stomach. "STOP WASTING MY TIME! TELL ME WHAT THEY KNOW!", he yells.

Joey doubles over in pain, but decides to take a chance: "They know everything." It's a bluff, but could cause Nick to make a mistake.

CTU

"TONY!" Jack shouts after him. "Tony, get back inside! NOW!"

The door opens and Tony walks in, glaring at Jack, without saying a word, crossing his arms, his stance defensive. "Close the door." Tony does, reluctantly. It's clear what he's thinking. Jack isn't the one in charge around here any more, how dare he give him orders! He opens his mouth to say something, but before he can, Jack says:

"Shut up and listen. The earpiece you just crushed was my only connection to Kim. Somebody kidnapped her earlier this morning and threatened to kill her if I didn't comply. If they hurt her now Tony, it's going to be your fault! And I'll get back at you, I give you my word." Jack's stare is cold, but his voice daunting.

"Oh that's real good, Jack. Threatening a coworker will look very good on the official report." If Kim really was in trouble, though, that could possibly explain Jack's actions today.

And the explanation had served to fill in the blanks for Lisa, who is standing quietly to the side and waiting for the next shoe to drop.

Tony furrows his brow, "You should have been upfront from the beginning. We could have helped you and you know we would have. Do you have any idea who you've been talking to?"

"Possibly we could have found out ourselves had someone not acted hastily?" , Lisa interrupts.

Tony shoots a glance at Lisa, "What's your problem? I'm trying to help now, aren't I? Why don't you just do whatever it is you were doing here in the first place?"

Lisa places the crushed earpiece in Tony's hand. "I am doing my job."

He's getting nowhere here, but Jack has to be his focus. "Okay, Jack, you want to run the show? Tell us where to start."

"For one thing, let's start working together." He pauses briefly, glaring at Tony. Then he starts talking.

"These people contacted me this morning and made me do what I did. And Tony, there was no way I could have avoided that and I really am sorry if people got hurt. I hope everyone's gonna be okay. But I want you to know the data we had are secured. I've transferred everything to Division. It's on their server and available to us. Worst case scenario is we lost about 30 minutes' intel." Jack pauses. "Tony, earlier today, when I came in, I did some research in my old files. I found out what Michelle already told you. I'm suspecting Michail and Nikolay Petrov, two former Russian mob headmen with a reason to get back at our Government. That woman you found dead, Mira Vlasnik, she used to work for them in Eastern Europe. Guess she became a liability. That's where we start. As soon as you can get everything back up and running, cross-reference everything and everyone. Find out where they are. Identify possible targets. We don't know anything about their plans. But if I'm right, they're gonna be big."

He finally glances at Lisa. "Glad you're here, Lisa. I could really use your help."

the road somewhere near Nick's place

Kim can hear the whirring of the helicopter but cannot judge its distance. All she knows is it's closer than she would like. Yet she can see a store up ahead... maybe... YES!

She runs and opens the front door, gasping as she requests the use of a phone.

"No public phone, missy." The owner points to a sign on the wall like she's an idiot.

"Please, sir, this is an emergency. I'll pay you for the use."

The owner looks her over for a minute then gives in. "Don't know if it'll work. Lines are down all the time 'round here."

Nick's place

Joey is on the floor. His face is covered in blood. "Pick him up." Mick does as told. Nick continues: "I'm going to ask you one last time. How much do they know?"

"Forget it.", Joey mumbles briefly, staring Nick down. This is it. He can feel it. Nowhere left to run. No way out. Joey thinks of Kim one last time. If Nick's people got to his team before Kim was there, then she might be alright. She might have made it out. But he'll never know.

The tension grows almost unbearable as Nick holds his stare for what seems like minutes, though it's just a few seconds. Then Nick turns around abruptly and orders to Mick: "Kill him."

Mick takes out his gun as Nick and the other guy leave the room to make final preparations for the exit.

CTU

"Cross-reference everything and everyone? Great, just great..." Tony paces across the floor a couple of times before coming to the conclusion that there is no choice but to do what Jack says - after all, he is right. "Okay, the power's back up and, if you did transfer everything to Division's server, we should be able to bring it back to ours rather quickly. Jack, don't go far." He's pointing directly at him. "I want you to be working near or directly with Lisa, Michelle, or myself at all times. I'm monitoring everything you do, don't argue."

He uncuffs Jack, though he cannot help feeling some reluctancy at this act.

Tony leaves, now to find Michelle. "Michelle, start working on the information Jack gave you earlier. We need to cross-reference the names with everything we've got from today. Even Mills and his CIA source. Don't miss anything. And I'm sorry." The apology is fast and abrupt as he heads to his own workstation to salvage the information on his system. "Jack's mixed up with something big. I never should have doubted you."

"Tony...", Michelle starts, but lets go again. There's no time for discussions. They're past that point now. She leaves Catherine with the paramedics. There's work to do. "Tony, I don't know how you want me to do this. We've lost all our data."

Nick's place

As Nick packs the final material to get ready to leave. He doesn't bother to take the receiver with him, it's of no use. He grabs his things and leaves the house.

CTU

"Can't believe you ever thought of taking a break from this place." Lisa smiles briefly after Tony has finally left. "Jack..." she closes her eyes and shakes her head, "It's unreal. All of this... I'll help you with whatever. You know that. Just don't hide anything from me, okay? I'm not a bad person."

Jack smiles at Lisa, his eyes give away his relief at seeing her. He gets up, taking a step towards her, speaking softly. "Of course you're not... Listen, Lisa... I need you to be my eyes and ears around here, ok? I need to know whatever they find out, as soon as they know... Someone's got Kim, I have no idea where she is and these guys are up to something and we can't even start to figure out what. That's too many uncertainties. Too many questions."

And he knows it's him who's gonna have to find the answers. He turns to pick up his weapon from the table where Tony left it and faces Lisa while holstering it.

"Lisa, I'll trust you to find Kim. Pull whatever strings you need to. I can't trust Tony with this. He's good at what he does, but he couldn't protect her last year and I almost lost her. He's too concerned about following protocol. Please do whatever you can to make sure we find her and that she's safe. " He is almost begging her now. "Lisa... " - and he takes her hand between his - "Please find my daughter."

12:59:57 --- 12:59:58 --- 12:59:59 --- 01:00:00