The following takes place between 5 am and 6 am

05:00:01 --- 05:00:02 --- 05:00:03 --- 05:00:04

Cannery

The man who uncuffed Jack stands behind him, the tip of the gunbarrel resting at the back of Jack's head. Jack takes the phone from Taylor and wipes the blood of his face with a sleeve before speaking. "George, it's Jack." He can hear unrest on the other end as he says this. Then a click. Andre probably put the cell phone on speaker.

His eyes are scanning the room. John walks out of the hall, Bill is coming back.

At least he's uncuffed now. But Bill is too close to Lisa. Jack carefully watches Taylor as he speaks.

"This man lost his five year old daughter in the Hotel Los Angeles attack. He's holding the both of us reponsible."

"You ARE responsible!" Tom hits Jack's neck with a tazer. The volts run through his body, making him jerk and yell in pain. A wave of nausea threatens to overcome him, but Jack manages to swallow it down while he fights for air, but doesn't let go of the phone. It seems like minutes before he speaks again. "George...", he mumbles through the cough, as he slowly streches his body up in the chair. It's just your body, Jack, keep your mind strong, he tells himself. "Kim is dead... They are willing to kill Lisa, too."

Show you acknowledge the fact that they are in charge. Don't make them have to prove it.
Jack now stares at Taylor again. What next?

He recollects his strength to put a question to Taylor. "What is it you want? Simply killing everyone who was somehow involved in Gracie's death won't bring her back. And why the Petrov's and the SSBNs?"

CTU
Michelle catches on, Jack is talking to Taylor, but also to CTU: this guy is behind this whole thing. Find out who he is. She begins pulling up what they've got on the hotel Los Angeles attack. She brings up the list of casualties and starts checking for a five-year old girl named Gracie. It should at least give them an idea of who this man is.

The reaction to the news of Kim's death is easy to see on the faces of those working on the case. But they have to continue before giving in.

"I told you my life was given a new purpose the day Gracie died," Taylor grinds his heel into the dirt, "When given a purpose one only needs to find willing participates to assist in the cause. Nikolay Petrov was very willing. It's funny," he chuckles, "terrorists are always willing."

George jots down the information coming across and hands it to Michelle. This guy contacted Petrov and Lisa had a file earlier containing NSA information on Petrov's activities.

"Check Lisa's desk," he whispers. She wouldn't have looked for a cross-check with a guy named Taylor who had a five-year-old daughter.

"Jack, ask how they met."

"Yeah, Jack, ask how they met." Tom nudges him forcefully with the gun barrell. "Hey, boss! Big man wants to know about some meeting."

"Oh?" Taylor laughs it off. Petrov's teams are in place, he'll get control of the SSBNs, what does it matter? "Your friend here," he motions to Lisa, "she throws up red flags when talking to sources. Her NSA source didn't get back with her because she's dead - buried in the back right here." Taylor shrugs, "That's what happens when people get nosy. We knew we'd have to take care of Ms. Elliott too. But you want to know about Petrov. I chose him because he is a good military man like myself. I served this country well but it couldn't save my daughter when I needed that the most."

"Let me talk to whoever's in charge! Hey, are you listening to me!" George's shouting is stopped by Taylor himself, who grabs the phone from Jack.

"I'm listening, Mr. Mason."

"I get why you want to kill Jack Bauer but I don't get why you want to get a nuclear submarine. Explain that one to me."

Taylor steps away from the main room so that he can speak to George in private. His reasons are ones he has shared with no one and he won't let Bill, Tom, or John hear them now. "Have your people call up Special Ops Classified file CA29340."

Miramar
Baker's team is surrounded. The Petrovs have been good, they've used survivalist instincts well and have pulled their troops together.

Miramar's commander has a lock on the coordinates he received from CTU. Men have been shifted through underground tunnels and above ground action has been discreetly followed. "Men, you're defending your home not just your job. Get out there and rid this place of the enemy!"
"Yes, Sir!"
A metal bullet-proof sheet is pulled away from the tunnel ceiling and a door is pushed up. As the first Miramar soldiers ascend, it's clear Petrov's men are taken off guard but not ready to give up. "GO!" The order is given and the soldiers rush forward. Baker's team smiles brightly then joins the forces of good.

cannery
As Taylor leaves the room, Jack has his eyes fixed on Lisa. What had they done to her? Can she get through this? With the big boss gone, it could be a good time to move. But Jack dismisses that thought immediately. Gun at his head, gun at hers, they'd both be dead before he even got off the chair.

CTU
Michelle whispers: "Tony... Look at this." She shows him what she's found so far. "There really was a five-year old girl named Gracie who was killed during the operation Jack was leading. Last name: Taylor. Her father claimed her body." She brings up a photograph of him. "Matt Taylor."

She then accesses the archives. She gets a list of the files and CA29340 but she can't bring it up without proper clearance. "Tony, I need an authorization code to access the classified file."

He quickly punches in a few numbers and the file appears on the screen.

"Alright... It's a report... Something about a mission in Novosibirsk. A lot has been canceled." Numerous thick black bars are on every page of the scanned file. She scrolls down until she seems to get a hit. "Here's something. Taylor has been dishonorably discharged after that mission. It says he's been suspected of having stolen uranium. But it has never been conclusively proven so he's never been convicted."

George snaps his fingers and Tony moves aside. "Okay, Mr. Taylor," he reads the name, "I have the file. What am I looking for? This means nothing to me."

"You see the note regarding a dishonorable discharge. I want that reversed, expunged from my record. You'll have to call the President for approval but you can make it happen. I know you can. That is if you want any chance of regaining two agents."

Michelle and Tony exchange puzzled glances. Does this guy want to go back to the military? Or is it just about the honor?

"How do I know you didn't make the uranium disappear?", George questions.

"It was a miscalculation on the part of my commanding officer." Taylor inwardly seethes with anger at the memory. "I called him on it and he paid me back by claiming I committed what amounted to international terrorism. If you're accused, might as well join ranks, right? By the way, how are things going at Miramar? I assume you have the place under surveillance."

George motions for Tony to pull up the Miramar information. Radio traffic seems to be minimal and garbled. The teams could be getting closer to the port now. George doesn't fall for the bait. "I wouldn't know, Taylor. You wanted the mission stopped... You've been asking the questions, let me ask one. Why not let a hostage go? The woman had nothing to do with the attack that killed Gracie. Let her go."

"You'd like that wouldn't you? No, I don't think so."

Miramar
Outnumbered and surrounded, Nick decides their best bet is to try and get out. For now. Taylor will have to do something about this. Nick gives Karen the orders to retreat but instantly dashes into the woods, closely followed by Mick, leaving their men to take care of themselves.

Karen watches them back off and starts behind them, but reconsiders. She's not walking out on this one. Instead, she heads off straight through the middle and towards the SSBN, killing everyone who gets in her way. She's already away from the shooting and can see the door to the underground tunnel leading to the submarine.

She almost makes it, too, except Baker turns up behind her with a couple of agents. "FREEZE! KAREN, STOP RIGHT THERE! DOWN ON YOUR KNEES! NOW!"

Cannery

Lisa closes her eyes briefly even though she can't let herself give up to anything. She has a sudden urge to provoke Bill. "Kim's alive," she tries to say but it comes out garbled and useless. Bill simply shoves her with the gun and tells her to shut up to which she replies with a cold stare but her eyes return to Jack. Lisa shakes her head "no" even though he won't understand.

"Hey, Bauer," With the boss away, Tom takes the opportunity to relax, "you were pretty stupid to come out here by yourself. I mean, it was easy for the other guys to get the girls but you? I thought you were supposed to be smart."

Jack watches Lisa carefully and tries to ignore Tom's words. What is she trying to say? No... No...what?

With his hands uncuffed and the attention shifting to the phone call, Jack's been loosening the ropes that held him tied to the chair and is now simply holding them together so they look tight.

Jack looks carefully around the room. Taylor is still gone, just Bill and Tom are in the hall.
He hears Tom shout his name again, wanting an answer.

"Hey, what's your name? Tom? Well, listen, Tom, let me tell you something... With people like you-" Jack suddenly grabs a knife from the blade holder in Tom's boot and tosses it at Bill, hitting him straight in the chest and sending him to the floor, then with one flowing movement slams the gun out of Tom's hand, grabs his arm, pulls him up and throws him over, then dives for the gun and fires two shots before Tom can even realize what's going on.

Jack then runs over to Lisa, pulls the knife out of Bill's heart and starts cutting the ropes to free her.

The shots echo through the building and bring three men rushing in from their lookout positions. Their colleagues are down. No one gets away with that!

Jack sees them coming, but keeps cutting the ropes. Maybe they'll make it. But the ropes are thick. "Jack!" The gag still on her mouth, Lisa's scream is muffled but her eyes show what's happening. Enough rope has been broken that she can slip her hands out and pull the gag off, "Watch out!"

But it's not soon enough. Two men tackle Jack to the ground. "You'll pay for what you've done!" The larger of the two hits him repeatedly.

"NO!" Tell him! If anything, he needs to know Kim is alive. Lisa struggles to get the remaining rope off her legs, "Kim is-" The third man grabs her and puts his hand tightly over her mouth and a knife at her throat. "Say another word and I kill you now!" As she is dragged into another room at the far end of the hall, she can hear the beating Jack is getting.

The two men continue to hit him and kick him. Taylor walks in on the scene, "Excuse me, Mr. Mason."

He glares at his henchmen, "I heard gunshots and now I find Bill and Tom bleeding, the woman gone, and Bauer apparently down for the count. An explanation?"

"Bauer got loose, Mr. Taylor! Honest!" The two men back off.

Taylor bends over Jack's motionless body. "Ah well, it's probably for the best. Take him into an empty room. I don't want him bleeding everywhere. He'll be out for a while but make sure the door is locked."

He shakes his head as Jack is carried away, "Mr. Mason, I hope you don't have the same impulsive actions in employees like I do. Okay, anyway, where were we?... Ah, yes. Free the woman-"

"Whoa whoa, if Bauer's dead, this conversation is over." George can't be certain of what he heard or what it means.

"He's certainly not in good condition but I think he'll live until I get what I want. What I want is that dishonorable discharge erased from my record."

"And you want reinstatement to a military branch?", George asks incredulously.

"This conversation is over. Just make it happen. I hope you're keeping an eye on Miramar."

Taylor hangs up and decides now would be a nice time to take a break.

CTU
"Update, people!" George shouts at Michelle and Tony and anyone within hearing range. "This man is not crazy. He had a plan and his part is working out. Michelle, where do the Petrovs come in?"

Michelle brings up the files she's cross-referenced.
"This man Taylor was on a mission to Novosibirsk in 1994. The objective of the mission is erased, I can't make it out. But it does say that the mission was successful. When they got back to the States, the uranium had disappeared. It is around that time that the Petrovs were trying to expand their ring to Eastern Europe and a few months later, they had the Bulgarian President assassinated and disappeared. The intel says they presumably hid in Asia and some time later, transferred their assets and their business to South America. They haven't surfaced in North America until today.
After his discharge, Taylor took court action against that decision, but lost. We lost track of him after the Hotel Los Angeles attack in 1998. So far, I haven't come across any records of Taylor having dealings with the Petrovs but if they met before '98, they would have met in Novosibirsk."

Palmer
"Mike! Get me an update from CTU."

"Certainly, Mr. President."

"And where is Stephen? I thought I told you to get him over here."

"I can't get a hold of him, Sir. I'm still trying."

Palmer is puzzled, but lets go. "Alright, just get me CTU."

"Yes, sir." Novick goes out to make the call.

CTU

Michelle waits for a reaction, but her focus shifts for one moment to the situation in the cannery. She needs to ask the question. "George, we have a back up team on stand-by. Shouldn't we send them out to get to Jack and Lisa?"

"I know what we should do and what we shouldn't do!" George snaps back at Michelle, then regrets it. What did she do but suggest what everyone was thinking? One problem, Taylor was a terrorist who wasn't negotiating, so there was no telling what the team would be sent into.

And George was too close to this. Tony steps up after being quiet for too long. "Let's send the teams in on stand by." He watches George carefully, "Andre can direct them, we have the location where Jack landed and we have layouts of the facility. It won't take long to pull the operation together. I can handle it."

George takes a deep breath. "Fine. Okay... just... do it. Start working on it now."

"Sir," Jennie calls out from her workstation, "you have a phone call, line 2."

"Tell them I'm busy."

"Uh, it's the President."

"Maybe he wants a back up team." George answers the phone.

"Mr. President, we've had a development. I apologize for not calling sooner. Jack Bauer has been taken hostage while attempting to rescue his daughter and another agent."

He purposely leaves out the information about Kim. "We also know the man behind the attack on Bauer is a Matt Taylor who is a former Special Ops member." George proceeds to provide the rest of the information to Palmer as best he can. "...and Tony Almeida is working with the Miramar Naval Commander to coordinate with our teams. That's what we know so far."

The President takes in this new information. Bauer captured? Someone on a personal vendetta again?... "So this man Taylor, he was behind everything that happened today?" He waits until George confirms that, then pauses to process the facts.

"Mr. Mason... No-one stages such a big operation just for the fun of it. What does Taylor want? What are you not telling me?"

Cannery
John, coming into the hall again, walks up to Taylor and grabs his arm. "This is not how things were planned to go down. You're slipping. If Bauer dies now, we're not getting anything."

Taylor jerks his arm away from John, "Bauer is to suffer just like I suffered and if he suffers more, what does it matter?" But John's not taking to this lightly. "The Petrovs have their own agenda, you've always known that. This operation was coordinated once we knew where all the players were. It's a shame Mira had to die today, but," he shrugs, "that's our business. Things happen all the time. If you don't like it, don't get attached."

He walks to Tom and Bill, checking each for any signs of life. "We'll have to get this mess cleaned up. Once Petrov calls, we'll know our timeline for the hostages."

"You better hope he calls." John stares at Taylor. "Things are going quickly down the drain here, I would't be surprised if Mason crossed us and the operation is still running. We haven't heard from Karen since this afternoon, what do you think happened to her? And Nick should have called by now."

John turns around and starts walking out of the main hall. "You should have killed Mason and Bauer when you had the chance. The more complex the plan, the more people you get involved, and the more can go wrong."

Taylor's patience with John is wearing thin, but John has been his friend the longest so he'll give him a greater opportunity to live today. But he still has the briefcase and the disc and CTU wants to retrieve that disc. Why else would the agent have willingly gone to an empty parking garage just to be shot at?

cannery

In the room that he's been dumped in while unconscious, Jack slowly becomes aware of his surroundings and finally opens his eyes. His face on the cold concrete floor, some warm and sticky liquid pooling underneath his cheek, a dark space around him, likely a small and empty room. He shifts to the side a little, only to find every inch of his body aching. Rubbing his face, he realizes his fingers are wet with blood. What had happened?

His mind is blank for a few moments, then, slowly, he begins to recall the events of the past hour or so. Taylor had killed Kim. He tried to get Lisa out of there, but failed.

Lisa... What have they done to her? Is she even alive? If she was, it probably wouldn't stay that way for long.

He needs to do something about it. Groaning in pain, Jack turns over and starts pulling himself up to his knees very cautiously, then slowly and insecurely gets up on his feet. He staggers a bit and has to support himself on the wall.

Miramar
Baker gets through to CTU after apprehending Karen. "This is Baker. Tony, come in!"

Michelle grabs a headset. "Baker, it's Michelle. Tony's busy. What's your status?"

"We've got Karen Codis in custody. The SSBNs are secured, but the Petrov brothers are nowhere to be found. Seems like they got away."

"Got away! Find them, Baker! They can't be allowed to leave the premises! Find them NOW!" Michelle is shouting now. This can't be good. If they get away, they'll contact Taylor and Jack and Lisa will be killed, too.

"We're trying to locate them, Michelle. But they have an army of mercenaries on the premises, it's hard to even tell who is a real soldier and who's with the Petrovs. They're taking control over the base. The Navy has its hands full defending their territory, we're on our own on this one."

Michelle sighs. George was right about these guys having a good plan. "Just find them, Baker! Jack's life is on the line. I'll do what I can from here to try and determine their location. I'll get back to you, alright?"

"Copy that, Michelle. Hurry."

"Yeah." She hangs up.

George / Palmer

"Ah..." George has stalled long enough with the President and with this new information he can't stall any longer, "Mr. President, Taylor is demanding the dishonorable discharge be removed from his military record. He claims to have been wrongfully accused of stealing uranium..." He receives a message from Michelle on his screen. "Sir, we've just received word that Karen Codis has been captured. Our teams are still working on the Petrovs but we'll get there. As for Taylor, he's expecting a call and soon... Mr. President? Are we to continue negotiations?"

Palmer is a little confused about what he's hearing. "Hold on, Mr. Mason, are you telling me that all that Taylor wants is to clear his name? And he's trying to accomplish that by kidnapping and killing our agents and by attacking our military? That doesn't make any sense."

CTU

Tony has been going over Taylor's file and the cross-checks Michelle has come up with that match or don't match the Petrovs. "Michelle, you said Taylor and Petrov's most likely time to have met would have come before 1998 but that doesn't coincide with the hotel attack and that seems to be Taylor's focus. But why does he want the discharge removed? That's what has been bugging me."

He reads the information again, attempting to process it from a different angle. "Let's say they didn't meet before '98 but Taylor's Special Ops experience provided him with the information he needed to get in touch with them at the right time. When George talks to Taylor, he's only anxious about one thing - revenge for his daughter's death. He doesn't want anything else."

Tony stops suddenly then excitedly begins to speak, "We're dealing with two different attacks. Taylor wants his dishonorable discharge removed because he knows the media will get a hold of this story and, when they do, they'll see he was in the military. If the discharge is on his record, they'll dismiss him as just another bad soldier who lost it but if he has a good record, they'll feel compelled to dig deeper and will come across the information about his daughter. Taylor wants to drag us all through the mud. The mistakes we made at the hotel will be everywhere and Congressional hearings could follow!"

He quickly gets Andre's attention, "Get the stand by team to be on alert and ready to go. Michelle," adrenaline is pumping, "Petrov's role was to get Jack back to CTU for Taylor and Catherine's use. His reward was being allowed to stage an attack on US soil."

Cannery – another holding room
Slowly, Kim begins to stir from her drug-enduced slumber. An instictive breath is stopped by the force of the gag around her mouth. She coughs quickly to prevent herself from suffocating. Where is she now? There's no pole, no light... Kim rolls to her side to find herself alone on the cement floor in a room full of wooden crates.

Palmer's hotel room
"George", Michelle approaches George and whispers. "Tony's got something. It's important."

Palmer on the other side of the line notices the interruption. "Mr. Mason, put your employee on the phone, I want to hear this first hand." George complies. How could he not? It's the President.

"Mr. President. This is Michelle Dessler. We believe that there are two sides to this attack. First and foremost, Taylor wants revenge for the death of his daughter. That is the reason he got to Jack Bauer and we believe he will not hesitate to kill him. The other part is less personal."

She explains what Tony has come up with, then asks the question they'd all been wanting to ask for a while now. "Sir, we have a field ops team on stand by. How do you want us to proceed?"

cannery
After his eyes have adapted to the faint light in the room, Jack makes out a sink and a faucet in the corner of the room. The mirror above the sink is broken. Jack washes the blood off his face and arms and runs his wet hands through his hair, then takes a gulp or two of water. Feeling a little refreshed, he starts checking the room for anything that might help him get out.

The room is very tiny and completely void of everything but a large bucket next to the sink and a chain hanging from the ceiling. The door is heavy, but a ray of light is coming from underneath it. Jack walks over to the door and reaches for the toolkit he used earlier in the day, but finds it missing. Of course, Taylor's henchmen wouldn't have taken any chances. When they disarmed him they took everything off him. Lucky they let him keep his clothes on.

Jack turns to the window and unshutters it. The first faint rays of light are visible on the horizon, the dark skies are slowly turning purple, but Jack doesn't notice the colors in the sky. His attention is focused on what lies ahead. Getting out.

The cannery is a very old building, the window frame is made of metal, but it doesn't seem too stable to him. Jack pulls at it hard and moves it back and forth. After a while, the window caves in and Jack takes it off its hinges. The cold, fresh air rushes in, replacing the stale smell in the room. Jack places the window on the floor and breaks out the glass with his shoe, then pulls the frame apart until he holds in his hands a piece that he can use as a bat.

He then fills the bucket with water and spills it underneath the door slowly, then takes the metal piece and waits for anyone on the outside to notice the flooded floor.

Palmer
There's a silence on his end of the phone as Palmer reflects for what seems like minutes. He knows that if he sends the back up in now, he'll most certainly put Jack in a very dangerous situation. He remembers well what Bauer did for him last year and how much he risked to keep him alive. He owes him a lot. But he's the President now, and his decisions will affect many lives. This was a matter of national security after all.

What if Bauer failed? If CTU lets these guys get away, there's no way of telling what might happen. He realizes there is really only one choice he can make. "Ms Dessler, is there any indication that Bauer is still alive?"

Michelle glances at George before she replies. "We're not sure, Sir. We were told so, that's all we know."

cannery
"Hey, what's going on here?", one of Taylor's henchmen is puzzled as he finds his shoes wet after stepping into the puddle of water in the hallway outside the room. And then it hits him. "Bauer."

He draws his gun before stepping any closer, unlocks the door and slowly and carefully opens it a little. Jack, waiting on the other side, pulls it open with a jerk and hits the man across the head with the window frame piece, once, then again and once more, just to make sure.

Glancing down the hall in both directions, Jack disarms the man, pulls him inside the holding room, closes the door behind him and heads off to find Lisa and Kim.

Palmer

Palmer makes the decision. "Send your back up team to the site. We cannot keep giving in to their demands."

"Yes Mr. President."

Palmer hangs up and sits on the sofa behind him, staring at the wall.

05:59:57 --- 05:59:58 --- 05:59:59 --- 06:00:00