01:00:01 --- 01:00:02 --- 01:00:03 --- 01:00:04
the store
"It's not working," Kim sets the phone down in frustration. "Is there another station or store around here?"
"Uh-uh," the owner shakes his head, "But... I can close for a few, give you a lift." He steps from behind the counter and towards the door to lock it.
"Oh...no...that's okay...I'll be on my way..." Kim rushes between the owner and the door and slams it open with her hands, then continues to run across the road and into the covering of the thick trees and overgrowth. If she follows the road, she'll be safe. She hopes.
CTU
Lisa puts her arm around Jack's neck and draws him into a hug, "I'll find her.", she promises. And she would - no matter what. Lisa was already forming a list of those strings she would have to pull, things she would have to learn quickly. "You'd better get out there or Tony might think something's up. I'm going to move my partner and I from the room George stashed us in so I can keep an eye on the operations."
She winks at Jack. Keeping an eye on the operations was her way of spying yet she would need Kevin for diversion. "I'll be right behind you."
"Okay, Lisa. Thank you.", Jack smiles and then leaves the room.
Jack heads towards Michelle's desk. He has the need to sort this out with her. All eyes are on him as he walks through the office. If looks could kill... Michelle spots him and turns away from Tony. "Jack. I hope you have a solution to this, otherwise I don't know how we can help you with almost no hardware and no data."
"Michelle, I've transferred everything to Division's server, all you need to do is access it."
"Uhm... Okay." She didn't expect this, but she's glad to hear it. She looks around the office. Catherine has been treated and she looks like she's gonna be okay. Most other people suffered not more than a shock. The place almost looks like nothing happened. Almost.
"So what do you want to do?", she questions.
"I need to see the two bodies. Have the CSIs brought them in?"
"Yes, they did. They should be in the morgue. Or the autopsy room."
"Okay, thanks" Jack looks her in the eye, knowing he pulled her into this, and she helped him . He didn't want to get her into trouble. "Michelle... I'm sorry about what happened.", he says sincerely.
Michelle pauses briefly. "I know. You had no choice."
Jack nods. He didn't. No need for further words. He turns around and heads over to the morgue.
"Finally!" Tony is looking to the door and starts towards the people walking through it. "Miranda, what took so long?"
Miranda passes Tony a computer disk with their evidence logs. "It's a good thing we sent the bodies ahead of us. Someone tried to run us off the road - twice." She glances at Sally and Rick. "She's pretty shaken, Rick managed to get them off our tail but we didn't get any vehicle information other than a dark, late-model car with no license. Are Peter and Todd in yet?"
Tony's worried about this newest development - and now Peter and Todd - "They aren't here. Have you talked to them?"
"I couldn't get through." There is clear worry on her face and in her voice.
"We'll find them." Tony tried to be reassuring but isn't certain it comes off well. "You need to get set up in the lab. We've got the bodies ready."
Miranda leads Sally and Rick past Michelle, with Tony following behind. He glances at Lisa setting up in the open and Kevin helping. But he has got to get back to work now.
"Who all was at the house when Mills was killed?" The question is posed to Michelle as he focuses on the AG. "Is everyone accounted for? Wife? Workers? We've got names?"
Lisa removes a special disk from the inside of her jacket. "Kevin, I need you to create a situation."
"Lisa..."
"Just talk to Michelle and Tony. Keep them busy and keep their eyes off of me."
Kevin pushes his chair back and does as told. He knows she wouldn't ask if it wasn't important. "Hey... I'm having trouble breeching the firewalls around the background files. Can you guys give me some help?" He's standing between Tony and Michelle and both seem irritated.
Using her time wisely, Lisa quietly makes her way to George's office and places the disk in his computer. In a matter of moments, she is downloading passwords and codes that will help her help Jack.
And she's poking through the drawers. Antacid and aspirin... Well, it's nice to see things didn't get easier for him, she thinks with a smirk.
Nick's place
Nick radios the pilot to bring the chopper back as they need to leave. The helicopter turns back towards the house, and lands at the premises just a little later. The two men leave the aircraft.
Ted, the pilot, walks up to Nick: "Sorry, boss, she's gone. We couldn't find her."
Nick takes out his gun and shoots them both within seconds. "Told you not to come back without her! Mick, you go."
Mick climbs into the pilot's seat and starts the rotor. Nick and the other two guys follow. The chopper takes off. Once in safe height, Nick pushes a button.
The underground garage the trucks came out of earlier explodes with a deafening blast.
CTU
"Dan, I need to see the bodies that came in earlier.", Jack says to the coroner as he enters the cold storage room of the morgue. Dan, though surprised to see Jack, doesn't dare question his authority.
"Sure, Jack. They're over here." Dan leads him to the autopsy room where the bodies are ready for the examination and uncovers their faces one by one, as he explains.
"Here's the woman from the apartment, two shots to the chest, presumably a standard issue 9mm handgun. Shot from a very close distance, not more than a foot. Probably didn't even see it coming."
Two shots. A pro. This guy could have Government training, the thought runs through Jack's head. "Wasn't there a second woman?", he asks.
The coroner continues: "Yes, but the woman the highway patrol found hasn't arrived yet. From what the coroner on the scene said, c.o.d was a fracture between the atlas and the axis. Somebody broke her neck."
Dan moves on to the second body. "But here, finally, AG Mills. One bullet right in the death zone, this triangle between the eyes and the nose,", he explains as he points at the area, "Clean shot, went straight through, exit wound is in the neck, next to the spinal column, a very steep angle."
"He was shot from that apartment above?"
"That's what the evidence tells us. But I'm no CSI, you better talk to Miranda or her team."
"Do you know how far that was from Mills' position?"
"Not exactly, but it could have been a hundred yards. Or more."
"Anything else?"
"Well, yes. I heard the bullet that was found on the scene was not American-made. Could have been Eastern European."
That matches Jack's suspicions. "Okay, thanks. I gotta go."
Jack walks back out and calls Michelle, who thankfully picks up and turns away from Kevin, leaving Tony to deal with him.
"Dessler."
"Michelle, it's Jack. Are the systems back up?"
"Almost there, Jack. You got something?"
"I think so. I'm starting to think this guy was one of us at one point. The sniper shot a moving target straight between the eyes from a considerable distance. You only get this kind of training in the marine corps. Start there and see what comes up, okay?"
"Okay. I'll let you know."
"Thanks." Jack hangs up the phone.
somewhere over
L.A.
Mick is flying the helicopter high above the city. Nick
is working on some file on his laptop. The other two guys are in the
back, quiet, staring out the window.
road near Nick's
place
A woman is driving down the road, her kid in the
backseat making way too much noise, while playing with the puppy he
just got. "Peter, dial it down a little, will you!", she
turns around to tell him this. Peter is a little startled and lets go
of the puppy, which jumps off his feet and to the woman's lap.
She lets go off the steering wheel for a moment to catch the puppy, it's a reflex, she can't prevent it. As she turns her eyes to the street again, she's almost off the road and she notices a blonde girl walking on the roadside. She tries to swerve back onto the road and hits the breaks, but can't stop completely before hitting the girl. "Oh no!", she screams. "Peter, stay right there!", she orders the kid and immediately leaves the car.
Kim is lying on the road, no blood is visible, but she got hit. "Miss? Can you hear me?"
Flying... the only sensation she could remember for this split-second when the world seemed to be on fire. "Ah..." Kim tries to move but she encounters only pain. "My leg..." And the understanding she has no choice but to give in to these people, she can't help herself now.
CTU
"Kevin, work from my station. I've got
everything pulled up for you." Tony gladly gives his chair away.
"Michelle, I'm gonna check up on Catherine."
Michelle to Tony:
"Okay." walks back to her desk to start looking for an
ex-marine with a rage against his country. Or maybe just someone
ready to sell his soul..George's office
"Jackie,"
Lisa's on the phone while she waits for the download to complete, "I
need NSA's classified files on Michail and Nikolay Petrov -
authorization code ZA89748. Yeah... upload to my system, I'll be
there shortly. Thanks."
the road
"I'm
so sorry about this. My kid was freaking me out, I just didn't see
you. I'm really sorry... May I take a look at your leg?" she
palpates Kim's leg, from knee to ankle.
"It doesn't seem broken. Come on, let's take you to a hospital, just to make sure.", she helps Kim up and walks her slowly to the car, placing her gently into the passenger's seat. Then, closing the door, she comes over and gets into the car. "Buckle up. Case I hit something again...", she laughs, but Kim doesn't seem to find this funny at all. It was a stupid joke anyway.
She clears her throat. "I'm Heather, this is Peter and that" - and she points to the puppy - "is the reason I hit you. I just got him for Peter, he doesn't have a name yet. What's yours?", she asks as she drives off.
Peter is all quiet now,
sitting in the corner, cuddling the puppy and eying Kim anxiously.
Heather takes a right turn off the main road, as she heads for the
nearest hospital.
An FBI autocade drives up the
main road towards Nick's premises, just as Heather's car disappears
out of sight.
CTU
She glances up to George's office
for a moment and spots Lisa. Whose side is she working on?
She's gonna find out.
Michelle sits down at her desk and calls her up. "Hi, it's Michelle. Can I help you with whatever you're doing there?"
Lisa glances at Michelle through the glass then closes her disk and exits George's computer. "Why don't I come down and we'll talk?" No need to spread anything over a monitored line.
Nick's compound
The FBI arrives at the premises, the agents swarming out, securing the site. The fire in the underground garage is still burning. The house and the cottage are undamaged.
CTU
It takes her only a couple of minutes to clear up George's desk (and to show she was there) before making her way to Michelle. Lisa wants to choose her words carefully but also knows Michelle could go to Tony with whatever she suspects. "We do need to talk... but not here."
She walks back to the room she originally had and waits for Michelle.
"You asked earlier how I know Jack and I was truthful with you - we worked together. We were friends, very good friends." No reaction from Michelle. This woman either doesn't believe her or thinks she's up to something.
"Kim has been kidnapped and she's the most important thing in Jack's life. He knows I have contacts high up and he has asked me to help get her back. I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that happens but I need to have access to files, to databases, to servers. I may also need to go out at some point and leave Kevin here."
Lisa lets the information take hold but doesn't give Michelle time to respond. "Michelle, I'm doing this for Jack. He deserves whatever we can do for him. And right now, I need to have a secure line set up for incoming and outgoing calls and incoming data to my system. I'll trust you for that."
Car
"My name's Kim." Why not say her name? She seriously doubts this woman and child and puppy are in on anything. Besides, she's being taken to a hospital. There will be a phone there and she can rest. Finally.
Kim smiles at Peter as she gently holds out her hand for the puppy to lick. "You must be very good to him, Peter. I don't know a lot of puppies that lick strangers' hands." Peter is still eyeing her cautiously. "So, he doesn't have a name, huh? What names have you thought of for this little guy?"
Heather smiles, "Peter is a bit shy. Come on, talk to Kim."
Peter silently says: "Spot." and jerks a little in his seat.
CTU
Michelle
takes a few seconds before she responds to Lisa and starts connecting
the dots. She remembers Jack's reaction when she told him about Lisa
being present. And after Tony left, they stayed in the interrogation
room a little longer. This could well be the truth. Plus, as long as
this woman's doing no harm, they might as well work together.
"Okay, you'll have it. Look, Jack needs us today and there's no point in not helping him out. Let's just keep this in the closet for now. Anything else you need, come to me. I want us working together okay?"
"As long as I can do what I'm here to do." And Lisa means it. Nothing will stop her from completing this assignment. "I'm waiting for data transmission from a NSA source. I'll share it with you because it will likely be connected to today's events, but I'm browsing through the contents first. I won't need much in the way of passwords," thanks to the information she just downloaded, "so I'll get to work now?"
"Sure." Lisa turns to leave, but Michelle adds: "Lisa... Thank you." and she smiles as she walks back to her desk.
Jack walks back to the main CTU office when his phone rings. "Bauer."
"Agent Bauer? This is Agent Brown, FBI."
Car
"Spot?"
Kim smiles a little more brightly this time. Finally the kid has
talked to her. "Spot's a good name." She gently pats the
puppy as her eyes become misty. "Can I make a suggestion? He
looks like a Joey to me. Joey's a good name for a protector. He'll
keep you safe." Yes, he will, Kim sniffs a little.
Heather glances at Kim briefly. Though Kim's voice is cheerful, her eyes are suddenly sad. She wonders what this girl has been through before she almost landed under her car.
"Mommy, can I call him Joey?", Peter asks.
"Of course. Whatever you want.", Heather replies and smiles.
"Hi, Joey. That's your name. Joey.", Peter tells the dog as he pets him and then brightly smiles back at Kim.
CTU Phonecall to Jack
"Agent Bauer, do you have a daughter named Kim?", Agent Brown enquires.
"Yes. Do you know where she is?", Jack replies, alarmed.
"No. Unfortunately. I can only tell you where she was."
He gives Jack directions and the description of what there is on the premises. Jack pulls out a little notepad and jots down the information.
"Do you know for sure she was there?", Jack asks.
"Yes." Brown pauses for a second or two. "Agent Bauer, it goes without saying that this information cannot leave the Community."
"Of course.", Jack agrees instantly.
"We had an undercover agent infiltrating these people and he informed us earlier today that your daughter had been taken hostage by the group. We sent out a team to extract her, but they never made it out. Our team and our undercover agent have been killed. As far as we can tell, your daughter wasn't with our team when it got attacked. But we don't know if she managed to escape or if she was recaptured... I am sorry I can't give you better news. That's all we have for now."
Jack sighs. At least Kim could still be alive. "Okay, thank you for the call." Jack hangs up and quickly finds Tony.
"Tony, I need a chopper. I just got informed about where Kim was held, I want to go and see if I can get any clues out of there."
"No." Tony barely looks up from his work. "I can't let you go, you're not cleared. Give me the coordinates and we'll get a team out there. We're better prepared then you could ever be. Besides, you said she was there. You, alone, aren't going to find her."
car
Heather turns to Kim: "How's your leg?"
"Um..." Kim takes only a brief look, "It's swollen but I think you're right, it's not broken. I can move it." Not without pain, she thinks ruefully. "You've got a great son, Heather. He's going to break a lot of hearts." She ruffles his hair gently. "I don't have any brothers or sisters. How 'bout you?"
Peter shakes his head. "Uh-uh."
Heather: "We're almost there. The hospital is right down the street."
CTU
Data strings are starting to filter to Lisa's computer. Kevin hears a familiar buzzing and runs to it, even if he attracts attention - which he does. Luckily, Lisa manages to meet him at the computer before anyone who has seen can make their way over.
"This is... good..." She can't believe what she's seeing. Tracking data NSA has on Petrov from the last two months. "JACK!" Too late. Lisa knows she has yelled out loud. But at least Jack is nearby, irritating Tony.
Jack ignores Tony's
comment for the moment. Tony's following protocol, as always.
"Fine.", he utters dryly and walks over to Lisa. "What
have you got?"
Nick's place
In the
woods surrounding the premises, there's sudden movement. A group of
uniformed men is taking position. The group leader gives a signal.
Gunfire begins. Agent Brown is hit in the shoulder and falls to the
ground. As he crawls to take cover behind a vehicle, he shouts what
is pretty obvious to everyone: "WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!"
Then he draws his weapon and starts looking for a target to fire back at.
01:59:57 --- 01:59:58 --- 01:59:59 --- 02:00:00