The Scale of life
One the great scale of life, Chloe O'Brien considered herself a 4. If it was a really good hair day and she managed to get the right combination of eye shadow/lipstick/whatever then she could pull off a 5.
But she certainly wasn't a 7.5, like shall we say, Audrey, who always managed to look perfect, and whose hair always seemed to bounce just right, even after being shot at. Now Audrey dropped down to a 7.5 because of the way she treated Jack. Breaking up with him and making him feel guilty for doing his job took her way down. However, she had a new boyfriend and had stopped following Jack's every movement with her eyes, so maybe an 8 (The fact that she her herself followed Jack's every movement with her eyes was a completely separate issue). No, on second thought she was way too disloyal to be anything more than a 7, but still three points higher than herself.
Then there was Jack's last girlfriend, the sweet and gorgeous Diane. Of course when she found out who Jack really was she flipped out a little, which is understandable considering she and her son almost died, like ten times on that never ending day. She also had bouncy hair and she was not disloyal. Also she had moved to NYC with her son. So she got an 8.
And then there's Jack himself. Chloe would give him a 10, because well, because. But Jack did have his flaws—the nightmares, the need to control everything, and of course the fact that the people he cared about often ended up dead.
However, he made up for his flaws with his need to protect the people he cared about and the fact that he would do anything to protect his country, among other things.
Plus, he was really hot.
So Jack gets at least an 8, probably and 8.5. So his relationships with the 7.5 Audrey and the 8 Diane made perfect sense.
When he told Diane that it would not work between them because of the dangers in his life that made sense. When he told Audrey that who he was would never allow a relationship between them to succeed that made sense.
When he showed up in the middle of the night and kissed her, computer tech geek Chloe, who was in her oldest pair of jogging pants, a stretched out Bon Jovi t-shirt and was suffering from a serious case of bed head, well that made no sense at all.
It continued to make no sense every night when he showed up to her apartment and they made love that had her Richter scale hitting a 10 and he seemed to have no idea that he was a 9 and could have a million other women a thousand times better than her.
He ignored the advances of the many 7 and above women at CTU who hit on him, or any woman anywhere. When they went out to dinner, to a movie (on the 4 random nights they both had free every six-eight months) his eyes never strayed from her. Never wandered. He seemed perfectly content.
But she noticed. She noticed the women who looked at them strangely. The women who flirted with him right in front of her, not caring that they were together, or worse thinking that she couldn't really be with him.
She never mentioned any of these things to Jack of course. Only thought them and waited for the other shoe to drop.
Until one day they were out walking on the promenade and they she stopped to look at a rack of t-shirt. Jack was a few feet away and she overheard the two women nearby, giggling and gesturing towards Jack.
'She must be rich.'
'You think.'
'That man is hot and he's got dangerous written all over him. Why else would he be with someone so mousy looking? He must be getting something from her.'
It's not like she'd never heard something like this before. Since junior high she'd learned to deal with nasty comments from gorgeous women and less than positive reactions from men, but for some reason this felt different. Because it made her wonder…Why was Jack with her?
Was it simply convenience? She understood him, his job; she didn't expect anything from him. Was she simply a better alternative to being alone?
She had thought on it for a long time and finally she couldn't take it anymore and one night it came flying out of her mouth before she could stop it, "Jack why are you with me?"
Jack, obviously shocked by the question said only, "What do you mean?"
"I mean, why didn't you get back together with Audrey? I know she wanted to. Or even Diane. Why are you here, with me, when you could be with one of them?"
Jack look confused for a moment and then came to sit next to her on the coach. "Chloe," he finally said, "You really don't know why I'm with you? Chloe, I'm with you because I'm in love with you."
"Why?" Chloe asked.
"Because of who you are. Because of who I am when I'm with you."
"What does that mean?"
"It means that you understand me. You know the things that I do, the things that I have to do, everyday and you don't just overlook it, you understand it. You stand by me, no matter what I do."
"That's just because you're always right."
"Exactly, you trust me and I trust you. When I was gone, you were the only person I could trust. Do you remember when you came to Chicago? Do you remember what you said you to me? You said you couldn't believe I had to live like that. That was the first time anyone showed concern for my welfare in a very long time Chloe, and that alone kept me going."
"Really?"
"You are kind, Chloe, and tough. You stand up for what you believe in, even when it means putting yourself in danger. Do you understand why I'm with you now?"
She smiled at him, "How about the way, you know, I look?"
Jack smirked dangerously now, "I would think you'd know by know that I more than enjoy the way you look."
Chloe laughed, "Well you aren't very verbose on the subject."
"Well, I've always thought that actions speak louder than words, but clearly that is not the case with you."
"Oh the actions work, but words don't hurt."
Jack smiled at her, gentler this time as he leaned in and kissed her, "Well, then pay attention, because I'm about to do a lot of talking."