4th part of the prequel

originally a roleplay so..

Jack Bauer et al.: JackAddict

Tony Almeida: MFLuder

Words from a friend

It's a beautiful sunny day, Jack Bauer is driving down a busy road in his SUV. He has to stop at yet another traffic light. Jack looks around, then checks his watch. 10:07 a.m. "Dammit.", he utters, slamming his fist against the steering wheel.

His phone rings. "Bauer.", Jack picks up.

"Jack, where are you? Heller needs you back soon.", a voice on the other end asks.

"Listen, I'm already late for a meeting. I'll be there as soon as I can." Jack drives off again, as the light turns to green.

"Alright.", the annoyed voice on the other end agrees. Jack hangs up.

Soon afterwards, Jack parks his car and walks towards a coffee shop. He takes a quick glance around before he enters. It's almost empty, a man is reading his morning paper, sitting at a table by the window, raising his head to look at Jack who's standing in the doorway. Two women are sitting at the bar, sipping coffee and laughing, obviously gossiping. Jack takes a seat at a table in the corner, sitting down so that his back is turned to the wall and the door and the glass window of the place are straight ahead. The years of living dangerously have taught him to be careful when doing anything, even if only meeting someone in the coffee shop.

"Good morning, Sir.", a waiter greets him. "Can I get you anything?"

"I'm expecting company.", Jack replies and the waiter leaves him alone. Jack glances around the place again.

After a while Tony walks in, tired and unshaven, his clothes looking like he slept in them. He spots Jack and goes over to him: "Hey Jack. Good to see you."

"Hey Tony.", Jack stands up and shakes Tony's hand. "Good to see you too. Have a seat."

The waiter walks up to them again. "Good morning. Would you like to order now?"

"A coffee, black." , Tony says.

"Same.", Jack adds and the waiter goes away.

Then Tony turns to Jack: "How did you happen to pick this place for our meeting Jack? We could've just met in the bar around Third where we used to go."

"I thought a little change of scene might do us both good. It's a nice place."

Tony scoffs slightly: "A change, huh? What are you saying Jack? You got something on your mind, just say it, alright?"

Jack gives a slight smile. "Tony, come on, we're friends. You haven't been returning my calls. I've been worried about you these past couple of months. I just wanted to check up on you, that's all. To make sure you're OK."

"Yeah well, let's just say I've been trying to get back to normal life."

Jack glances away for just a second, then looks back at Tony. "That's not what I've heard." The waiter brings the coffee, but is ignored by both men, who hold eachother's stare.

"Look Jack, I'm fine. You've been talking to Michelle, haven't you?" Tony says with a slight edge in his voice. "What goes on between me and my wife is between us."

Jack shakes his head no. "She didn't have to tell me anything... Tony, look at yourself. You're wasting away. I know you're in a tough place right now, but trust me, you can get back on track."

Tony raises his voice, furious at Jack. "You're hardly the one to give me advice in this. You're not the one who just spent months locked up in a maximum security prison! SO HOW THE HELL SHOULD YOU KNOW!" With the last sentence Tony hits his fist on the table. The people in the room look at the two men, exchanging questioning glances. The waiter glances up from the cash register and obviously contemplates walking up to Jack and Tony, but doesn't. At least not yet.

"Tony, listen up! Calm down.", Jack says soothingly, having noticed they had drawn attention, and continues in a low voice. "So maybe I never did time in prison, but trust me, I know how you're feeling."

Tony lets out a sarcastic laugh, rolling his eyes and turns his head away from him. How could he possibly know?, he says to himself. The way he thinks he just knows everything and everyone is amazing.

Jack looks Tony in the eye and continues. "Trust me, I do know. You're distancing yourself, you're pushing everyone away. Tony, I've been there. After Nightfall. I lost all of my men, I blamed myself for it. I didn't want anyone to get near me. I pushed Teri away. She stuck with me, for a while. But it got too hard and we separated." Tony's eyes are now looking past Jack, focusing on a dirty spot on the wall in front of him. Jack pauses for a second before finding Tony's stare and holding it. "Tony, if you don't get a grip on yourself, you'll lose Michelle. And I know you don't want to lose her."

"Alright, look. No I don't want to lose her. But I don't need her pity. She despises me for what I did. She resents me, Jack.", Tony snaps at Jack, now again glaring at him, feeling his blood rapidly rushing to his head.

"That's B/S, Tony. She loves you. The only thing she despises is what you're doing to yourself right now. Don't you think it hurts her to see you wasted day after day? Well, it does."

"What the hell is it to you Jack? Just back off!", Tony yells, his temper almost out of control.

"I just don't want to see the two of you fall apart, that's all..." Jack lowers his voice. "Tony, you're my best friend. You were my only real friend at times. I trust you with my life. I still do. But I didn't get you out of prison to watch you kill yourself drinking.", Jack says, knowing that Tony won't like hearing this, but hoping that these harsh words will have an effect on him.

Couple of seconds later, Tony stands up to leave and throws a few bills on the table, glaring at Jack with contempt. "You're really something, you know that Jack... I've gotta go." Then he heads for the door.

"Tony stop!" Jack scrambles a few bills from his wallet, also throwing them on the table, and catches up with Tony, blocking his path outside the coffee shop. "Okay, look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that. I just want to see you come back to life. Let me help you find a job, alright? I just wanna help. Whatever you need. Not out of sympathy. Out of friendship."

Tony grabs Jack by the lapels of his jacket and pushes him forcefully against the concrete wall of the building. "Jack you son of a bitch... If only you had let me make the trade with Saunders according to my terms, we wouldn't be where we are now!" Tony yells angrily, even though he knows that Jack's actions that day were justified.

Jack stands quietly, keeping eye contact with Tony. "Alright, Tony, you wanna hit me? Hit me. Get it out of your system. But after that, let's just try to make the best out of this situation. It is what it is, and no-one can turn back the clock. I did what I could, I'm sorry it wasn't enough."

Tony backs off, breathing deeply. "I'm sorry Jack. I..."

"It's alright.", Jack says and readjusts his jacket. "I understand."

"I owe you Jack. Without you I'd still be doing twenty years.", Tony says apologetically.

Jack looks Tony in the eye. "I did it for a friend."

Tony pauses to think only for a moment, before curtly replying: "Yeah."

"You don't owe me anything. Just try to pull yourself together. Not for me. For Michelle.", Jack adds.

"Yeah. How long are you staying in L.A.?" Tony says, changing the subject. He does not want to deal with the events, even now they're still too painful for him.

"Just for a few days. Look...", Jack starts as his phone rings again. "Excuse me.", he picks up. "Bauer... Yes, I'll be right there." Jack hangs up again. "Tony, I'm sorry, I've gotta go. Secretary Heller's waiting for me."

"Yeah. Go on, we'll talk again someday."

"Alright, take care.", Jack says, shaking Tony's hand and pulling him into a quick hug, tapping him on the shoulder.

"Yeah, I will."

As Tony turns to leave, he feels slightly betrayed by Michelle. Why did she go to Jack? She should have spoken to me first.

Jack stands there for a few seconds watching Tony walk away and hoping that Tony will pull himself together, for his own sake as well as for Michelle's .Then he turns around and heads back to his SUV, back to Heller, back to work.