Author's note: Sorry for the delay, but hopefully this extra long chapter will make up for it.

24: Day 1.5

Previously in 24: Day 1.5 . . .

MATT HARPER and Agent Nikolai Torumov were able to intercept ANDREI MARENKOV at one of Lenkovich's safe houses. They were unaware that Nikolai's contact at FSB, NATALYA TENYAKOVA, had dispatched a second agent to kill Marenkov. Harper and Nikolai were able to retrieve Marenkov but not before he was badly wounded. Meanwhile PRESIDENT DAVID PALMER has been working closely with the Russian President during the situation. During their last conversation, the Russian President asked President Palmer to meet with his Ambassador regarding evidence that his own people may have been involved. Mean while GEORGE MASON was paid a visit from his father, DOUG MASON, who revealed he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. George was called away during the situation with Marenkov but Doug managed to overhear Natalya instructing her agent to make sure Marenkov is dead and to kill Harper and Nikolai if necessary.

The following takes place between 4:00 P.M. and 5:00 P.M.

4:00:00 . . . 4:00:01 . . . 4:00:02 . . . 4:00:03 . . .

Matt turned away from the road and glanced back where Nikolai was still applying pressure to Marenkov's wound. "How's he doing?"

The Russian agent looked up, his breathing heavier than normal. "I think I've got the bleeding under control for now but I don't think he'll make it back to CTU."

Matt hit a few buttons and the vehicle's online roadmap came up. "All right, Santo Roberto General's about five minutes away," Matt said, making a sharp turn down a side street before hitting the speed dial on his phone.

"It's Matt!" Michelle called over to George, who rushed over to her, Natalya following right behind.

"Matt, what's happening?" George barked into the phone.

"Marenkov's bleeding too heavily. We're taking him to Santo Roberto. Tell them we've got a critical gunshot wound five minutes out."

"Got it." George looked up from the phone at the woman who's handed it to him. "Michelle."

Michelle nodded. "I heard. I'm on it."

Before George could object, an anxious-looking Natalya picked up another phone. "Agent Harper, this is Agent Tenyakova, FSB. Do you have any idea who could have done this?"

"Negative, we never got a look at the shooter, but they were ready for us so whoever it was, they must know about Lenkovich's operation."

Natalya nodded. "I see."

George lightly put a hard on her arm. "Don't worry. We'll find out who this was."

An uneasy smile appeared on her face. "I'm sure you will."

4:03:12 . . . 4:03:13 . . . 4:03:14 . . . 4:03:15 . . .

"What do you mean a shoot-out?" Galina exclaimed, rushing over to the monitors were Alexi and Sergei sat.

"I wasn't able to get a good look." Alexi said, shifting uneasily in his chair. "Marenkov pulled into the safe house driveway. Two men rushed up and pulled him out. They must have been with CTU. Suddenly someone started shooting at them. The camera panned as much as it could, but I wasn't able to see much else." He paused with a sigh. "I think Marenkov was hit."

Galina's jaw dropped as the color drained from her face. "What?"

Alexi raised his hands defensively. "Don't worry. I've already got a plan in motion. We can still salvage this."

Galina stared at Alexi in disbelief. "Plan? You think there is any plan that can save this? My father was shot and even if he lives, he'll be in CTU's custody! It's over, Alexi! Your plan has failed! We need to get out of here while we still--"

Galina barely noticed in mid-speech as Alexi's right arm began to raise. It didn't completely register with her until the back of his hand struck her face, knocking her to the ground. She slid a few inches, her skirt and bare legs brushing against the hardwood floor. She just lay there, not moving except for the hand running over the side of her face, staring at him in disbelief. Alexi stared back, his breathing heavier. Without saying a word, he gestured to the startled Sergei and the two men walked away, leaving her there.

4:07:30 . . . 4:07:31 . . . 4:07:32 . . . 4:07:33 . . .

Marenkov's breathing was starting to sound more labored as the car pulled into the hospital.

"Hang on, Andrei." Matt glanced back as two young nurses and a tall, dark-haired doctor helped Nikolai pull Marenkov out of the car. "You're gonna be all right."

"If I... if I do not make it," Marenkov rasped as they lifted him onto a gurney, "there is something you need to do."

"We know about the nuclear device." He whispered to Marenkov while the doctor began saying something to one of the nurses. "We still need the location."

"My daughter." Marenkov said hoarsely. "Help her and I will tell you."

Matt leaned in closer while Nikolai gritted his teeth in frustration. "You could die, Andrei. Please!"

The nurses wheeled they gurney towards the ER while Matt and Nikolai followed. "Promise me you will help her."

Matt stopped, looking back at Nikolai for a moment, then turned back to Marenkov. "I promise."

Marenkov began saying something but voice began slurring as his eyes fluttered shut. "Is he going to make it?" Matt shouted to the doctor.

The doctor turned back towards Matt. "Possibly, but we need to get him stabilized before we can take him up to the OR." The doctor turned back to Marenkov as he was rolled away.

Matt kept his eyes on Marenkov until he was rolled into another room. "If he dies without giving us the location of the nuclear weapon..."

Nikolai glanced briefly at Matt. "At least Alexi Lenkovich won't get it."

Matt turned to look at him. "No, but someone else might. There's no way to be sure until we find out where it is."

Nikolai lowered his head and said nothing.

Matt was about to call CTU when he noticed a familiar figure walking towards a set of pay phones at the other end of the hall. "Lauren?" He whispered.

"What is it?" Nikolai asked.

"It's all right, just keep an eye on Marenkov." Matt glanced back at him as he walked down the hall.

Matt nearly missed her as she headed towards a crowd, but she finally turned around as he rushed towards her.

"Matt!" Lauren Harper nodded awkwardly as he approached her. Though she and her husband were the same age, she looked noticeably younger, her chin-length head of dark red hair accenting her features. Since their separation, Matt had deliberately tried to limit as much of their interaction to the phone as possible. It was difficult enough talking to her without seeing her as well. "Thank God you made it."

Matt frowned in confusion. "Made it?"

"To see Danny, right?" She asked expectantly.

Matt sighed, putting his hand to his head. "I didn't even know this was the hospital you were at. I was in the field and a suspect was injured. I brought him here."

Lauren's gaze suddenly cold. "Right, your job."

"Laurie, I am not doing this with you again, not here." Matt whispered harshly.

"This isn't about us, Matt." Lauren snapped. "For the last seven months you've barely seen your son. He doesn't believe you anymore when you say you'll be there for him."

Matt steeled his jaw. "We've had this conversation God knows how many times. Nothing we say today is going to change things." Matt's look softened. "Look, I don't know how long I can stay but I'd like to see him."

Lauren sighed, knowing this was the best she could expect. "All right follow me."

George watched intently as Natalya spoke into the phone in her native Russian, wondering if he just saw Michelle off to the side, rolling her eyes at him. He wasn't sure why Natalya's face looked likely she was hiding disappointment.

Natalya hung up and turned to George. "That was Agent Torumov. The doctors believe Marenkov will recover. He's being taken to surgery right now"

George raised his brow and smiled. "Well, there's some good news. I'll have McKinley and his team head over to the hospital to guard Marenkov until it's safe to transport him here." George leaned his head in. "I guess we make a pretty good team."

Natalya gave George an awkward smile. "Um, yes, I suppose so. Excuse me. I need to inform my superiors of the situation. I'm sure you need to do the same."

George sighed as she walked to the other side of the room, phone back to her ear. Well, she came to her senses about me faster than most women. At least I know this one won't try for alimony.

George sighed again as he spotted his father quietly walking towards him. "Dad, look, I said I've got a lot to deal with. One of my agents was just involved in a shooting--"

Doug leaned in closer. "Look, this is important." He whispered, glancing in Natalya's direction.

"What is it?"

Doug took a breath, then paused, suddenly looking very nervous. "I...I don't know. I remembered it a second ago, I hat it but..."

George shook his head. "That's just great. Look, I'll tell you what: Just have a seat in the conference room and in a few hours I'll probably be off and we can grab something to eat and try to remember what you wanted to tell me." George turned over to Patrick. "Patrick, I want to look up any possible aliases Reynolds or Larson might have owned property under. We might get a lead."

Patrick nodded. "Got it."

Doug's hand ran over his forehead, as George walked away. "It was really important. I remember that."

4:11:26 . . . 4:11:27 . . . 4:11:28 . . . 4:11:29 . . .

Matt and Lauren found Danny slouched in a chair in one of the waiting room looking up at one of the TV's, a large cast encasing his right arm.

Matt lit up for a moment as his son recognized him, despite the despaired look on his face. "Hey, buddy. How are you feeling?"

"I have a broken arm. How do you think!" Danny answered impatiently, raising the cast as much as he could.

Matt moved his son's school bag aside and sat down next to him. "I had to get a cast when I was about your age. It's not so bad."

Danny shook his head sadly. "I'm gonna miss soccer practice."

Matt shrugged and put a had on his shoulder. "Yeah, but you'll be able to invent some great story when people ask you how you got it, like you fought off a mountain lion or something."

"Dad!" Danny moaned.

Matt sighed. "Tell you what. Have you eaten? I'll go grab something for you."

"Okay. Some chicken fingers maybe?"

Matt stood up, nodding. "You got it." He gestured to Lauren, asking if she wanted something. Getting a shaking head in response he left.

"Who were they?"

Matt spun around towards the direction of the voice and saw Nikolai approaching.

"That's my family." Matt said, gesturing back to the waiting room. "My son was hurt at school today. They just happened to come to the same school as us."

Nikolai raised his brow. "Lucky for you."

Matt snorted. "Not really." He shook his head dismissively. "Have you called CTU."

"Yes. They're sending men over. We can expect them from twenty minutes to a half-hour from now." Nikolai's expression darkened. "So who from your office will be debriefing Marenkov once he's ready?"

Matt gave a solemn look. "Probably me. I've dealt with him more than anyone. He trusts me." He sighed. "I don't know what I'm going to tell him about his daughter. He's in no condition to learn the truth right now."

Matt stared down the hallway at nothing in particular. "Do you know why Andrei Marenkov became an arms dealer?"

Nikolai said nothing as Matt looked back at him. Matt was sure he already knew Marenkov's history but wanted to hear Matt anyway. "His son was a soldier just like him. He was killed in action in Chechnya about ten years ago. Marenkov just shut down. He'd lost his wife to cancer about a year earlier so his daughter was the only family he had left. I guess he felt he needed to do whatever he could to take care of her."

"I'm sure you probably know life for a Russian officer, even a senior officer, is hard. He couldn't provide much for her. At some point he started using what he knew to make a few black market deals. A couple of pieces of equipment disappeared and he'd make it look like a clerical error. He was actually pretty good at it. I don't think anyone really suspected him at first. Then he went for the big prize: He had a couple of large caches of weapons moved to a secret location, then disappeared himself. Next time he turned up, he'd been identified buying and selling military-grade hardware. I know there a few lines even he wouldn't cross, like selling to Chechnyans and certain terrorist groups, but there were quite a few he would and did.

"He tried to send most of the money he made to his daughter but she wouldn't take it. She hated what he'd become and broke of all contact with him. I know your tried to enlist her help in getting to him but she refused. She moved to Prague and later Paris" Matt lowered his head. "He thought he could help her, but he ended up throwing away everything he had for nothing, and now he's done it again."

Matt looked away. "We try to tell ourselves everything we do is to give our children a better future, but all we're doing is pushing them away." He blinked away the moisture accumulating in his eyes and shook his head. "I'm going to get something to eat."

The two men walked down the hallway towards the cafeteria, neither noticing the gaunt-looking man in scrubs watching them intently before sneaking into a closet...

"Da!" Alexi answered as he picked up the phone, Sergei and Vladimir to his right.

"It's Boris. You were right. They took Marenkov to the hospital. Marenkov's still in surgery and there's only two men guarding him here right now but they've probably called for backup."

Alexi smiled. "Good. We'll head out now."

"There's something else. One of the men guarding Marenkov, you're not going to believe who it is."

Sergei and Vladimir couldn't hear what Boris was saying on the other end, but they noticed whatever he said last caused Alexi's eyes narrow to slits and made him tighten his grip on the phone almost to the point of breaking it.

"Come!" Alexi hissed to the two of them after hanging up the phone. "We have more than one score to settle."

4:27:50 . . . 4:27:51 . . . 4:27:52 . . . 4:27:53 . . .

"Mr. President," Ambassador Ivan Andropov extended his hand as he entered the Oval Office. "Thank you for meeting with me."

President Palmer grasped the Ambassador's hand firmly before they sat. "Certainly. President Petrov said something about some of his people being involved in interfering with our efforts to secure General Marenkov. Clearly, this is a troubling revelation."

Andropov nodded solemnly. "And one that is more than likely true, I fear. What do you know about the Russian Prime Minister?"

Palmer was taken aback. "Rudenko? Popular in his country, relatively young for his position..."

"Also first in line if anything happens to President Petrov, and a very ambitious man."

Palmer shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Ambition is hardly uncommon among politicians. I assume there's more to it than that."

"I'm afraid so. Someone like Alexi Lenkovich would have difficulty traveling undetected. He'd most likely use passports he obtained illegally. We located one of his bases a week ago. The men there knew nothing about where he was but we did find a travel visa we believe originated from the Prime Minister's office."

Mike Novick, who'd been standing quietly in the corner until now, suddenly stepped closer. "Are you telling us Rudenko is responsible for Lenkovich getting into this country?"

Andropov looked up at Mike, then back at the President. "It certainly appears that way. If Lenkovich had succeeded in abducting Marenkov, it would have been a great embarrassment to President Petrov. He's been eager to locate both of them for many years. And now the revelation that Marenkov knew the location of nuclear weapons, we may have all been placed in danger which would make the Prime Minister may be guilty of treason."

For a few moments, the room was silent as the three men said nothing.

4:34:18 . . . 4:34:19 . . . 4:34:20 . . . 4:34:21 . . .

Doug Mason was still washing his hands when one of the younger staff members stepped out of the washroom stall. What had he heard one of the women call him? Patrick, wasn't it?

The young man seemed to glance at Doug more than once. "You're...uh...you're Mr. Mason's father aren't you?"

"Uhhh...Yeah, that's me." Doug answered uncomfortably.

Patrick chuckled. "Sorry, it's just Mr. Mason's sort of a by-the-book guy. Nobody around here really knows much about him. I guess I just never really thought of him as somebody's son. You must be really proud of him."

"Yeah," Doug sighed. "I am."

Patrick smiled. "Well, this was interesting but your son gave me something to do to and I gotta make sure the job gets finished."

Doug didn't speak or move while Patrick started to walk towards the door. "Make sure the job is finished" He finally said quietly.

"Sorry, did you say something?" Patrick asked, turning around.

"Make sure the job finished." Doug repeated clearly trying to remember something. He looked at Patrick and his eyes suddenly lit up. "Oh, God, George!" Doug rushed past the confused Patrick, out of the washroom, towards George's office.

Jogging up the stairs, Doug pulled the glass door open and was rewarded with an angry from his son, sitting at his desk.

"Dad! What you think--"

"George, I remember! I remember what I heard!"

George sighed. "Look, that's great, Dad, but--"

"The Russian woman, she trying to kill that guy you picked up. I heard her on the phone. She told someone to take him out and if your guys interfere, to take them out as well."

George stood up. "Dad, this is serious."

"I know what I heard!" Doug insisted. "You gotta do something about this."

"I will." George peered out the window down at Natalya, then back up at his father, offering him an uncomfortable smile. "Thanks, Dad."

4:41:06 . . . 4:41:07 . . . 4:41:08 . . . 4:41:09 . . .

Nikolai had been looking for Matt for the last five minutes when he finally saw him walking towards Nikolai, a cold look on his face.

"Ah, there you are." Nikolai said. "I wanted to ask--"

Nikolai was totally unprepared when the shorter man slammed him against a wall, prompting an intern a few feet away to run off, probably looking for security.

"You son of a bitch!" Matt hissed. "You were gonna kill him!"

Nikolai pressed his head against the wall. This wasn't going to be pleasant.

"Was that the plan all along, hmm? Kill Marenkov so he can't talk to Lenkovich or us? Kill me and my people too if we got in the way?"

Nikolai grunted as her grabbed Matt's wrists and pulled himself free. "Yes!" He spat. "Those were my orders but I disobeyed them. They must have sent someone else to finish the job."

"It was nice of you to mention that." Matt sneered.

"I didn't have to let you live! I could have killed you both. Marenkov's information would be safe from Lenkovich and my career wouldn't have been in ruins."

Matt stepped back, trying to decide if he should still be mad at Nikolai when he noticed a gaunt-looking man watching them. He turned back to Nikolai, who was also looking at the man, and saw a look of recognition pass over the Russian's face.

"That's Boris, one of Alexi's men." Nikolai whispered.

Matt turned back to see the gaunt-looking man running off, pushing doctors and patients out of his way.

Matt immediately broke into a run after the man, but glanced back at Nikolai. "Call CTU and go check on Marenkov!" He yelled.

Boris darted around the corner and ran into a stairwell with Matt close behind. Though certainly not heavy, the Russian didn't look to be in very good shape and Matt quickly caught up with him. Matt grabbed him by his shoulders and threw him against a wall.

"Where's Alexi Lenkovich?" Matt barked.

"You're too late." Boris sneered in an accent so think it was almost unintelligible. "Alexi knows where Marenkov is. He will have him."

"Alexi's not taking Marenkov anywhere." Matt growled.

"He will," Boris continued. "With the right leverage."

Matt paused for the moment, wondering what the man was talking about. Boris took the opportunity to push Matt away and run again. Matt tried to grab his arm but Boris pulled himself away, stumbling back towards the railing and falling over the edge of the stairs. Matt heard a terrified cry echo from the stairwell and crunch at the bottom of the stairs that could only be bones breaking. He peered over the railing and saw Boris sprawled at the bottom of the stairwell, a pool of blood swelling around his head. Matt slammed his palm against the railing in frustration, then rushed back through the door.

What he saw when he emerged look more like a war zone than a hospital. Doctors, nurses, and patients were screaming and diving for cover as Nikolai, crouched behind a heart monitor, exchanged shots with what must have been another of Alexi's men.

Matt ducked down behind a bed just as the man fired shots at him. Matt looked around. There was no chance he'd get a good shot from here.

"Agent Harper!" An accented voice called out to him. For a second, he thought it was Nikolai, before realizing it wasn't his voice. Lenkovich?

"Hold your fire and allow us to leave" The voice continued.

"That's not gonna happen." Matt yelled back.

"Yes, it will. Take a look."

Matt peered out from behind the bed to a sight that drained the color from his face. One of Alexi's men still had a gun aimed at Nikolai; another was carrying Marenkov's slumped from, dressed in a hospital gown; while Alexi himself had pressed against him, a gun aimed his head, Danny.

Matt jumped out from his place of cover and aimed his gun straight at Alexi's head while Danny trembled. "Lenkovich, you son of a bitch, let him go!" Matt roared.

"Well, now that would be stupid of me, wouldn't it?" Alexi smiled. "We're leaving now. If you don't want anything to happen to your son, we'd best not have any trouble, yes?"

"All right, all right." Matt stammered, dropping his gun.

"Wait" said Nikolai, rising up from behind the monitor, hands raised. The man aiming at him twitched nervously. "You want hostage, Alexi? Take me. I'm the one you want."

Alexi looked at Matt, then Nikolai. "That's true", he said, thoughtfully. Suddenly a cruel smile passed over his face. "On second thought, I think I take you both. Vladimir, take him. Any sudden movement and the boy dies!"

Nikolai looked back at Matt as the six rushed past him down the stair well.

4:45:02 . . . 4:45:03 . . . 4:45:04 . . . 4:45:05 . . .

George shook his head as one of the guards escorted Natalya out of the building when a voice interrupted his train of thought.

"Sir!" Lily called over. "We're getting police reports from Santo Roberto. Something about a shoot-out."

Oh, hell. "Get Matt on the line!" He barked.

"Sir!" Patrick, "I found another address I was able to trace back to Marcus Reynolds. It's a house at 6384 Peyton Grove!"

Matt followed Alexi and the others down the front entrance of the hospital and watched them pile into a black van before speeding off.

"Matt!" Lauren's panicked voice emerged from behind him as she rushed up to him. "They took Danny!" she sobbed. "They took him!"

"I know, I know." Matt answered, trying to keep his voice from breaking. "We'll get him back."

His phone rang and Matt immediately picked it up. Later on, he wouldn't remember much about the conversation except the part where Tony told him where Lenkovich was.

4:54:59 . . . 4:55:00 . . . 4:55:01 . . . 4:55:02 . . .

Galina was confused as she saw them pull an adolescent boy out of the van. "What is this?" She asked. "You never said anything about kidnaping children!"

"It was leverage to get us out safely." Alexi answered as Sergei carried Marenkov towards the house. "Take Dimitri and the boy into the other room."

She was even more confused as she saw Dimitri, very much alive, being led inside by Vladimir at gunpoint. "I don't understand." She said.

"I'll explain after." Alexi said before point a gun at her.

"Marenkov!" He barked at the heap in Sergei's arms. "I still have your daughter. Tell me what I want to know and I'll spare her!"

"Nyet!" Marenkov moaned. "I will tell you anything..."

Galina stood still as the rest went inside. No matter how much she had hated her father, seeing him like that, because of her...

Matt barely said a word as McKinley and Baker drove him towards the house. Nothing mattered. Nothing but getting to Danny...

4:57:44 . . . 4:57:45 . . . 4:57:46 . . . 4:57:47 . . .

Paxton breathed a sigh of relief when Alexi finally called.

"I have the information, but we need to get out of here now."

Paxton nodded. "Good. I'll tell you where to go..."

4:58:12 . . . 4:58:13 . . . 4:58:14 . . . 4:58:15 . . .

Galina's heart almost stopped when she saw Alexi emerge from the room where her father was being held, his shirt stained with blood.

"What have you done? What have you done?"

Alexi's face was stone cold. "I've made sure we'll be the only ones to know what he knows."

Galina started breathing heavily, tears welling up in her eyes as she rushed into the room. There, Marenkov lay, blood pooling around several knife wounds in his chest.

"Father!" She sobbed, kneeling next to him as Alexi looked on. "Father!"

Marenkov managed to place a hand on her cheek. "Galina..." he choked.

"Alexi!" Sergei rushed towards them "The monitors showed CTU cars heading this."

Alexi nodded. "We have to go now!" He reached for Galina's arm but she slapped him away.

Vladimir peered through a crack in the door at the source of the shouting. It was a fatal mistake as Nikolai was able to rush him, while Danny crouched in the corner. They struggled for a moment before Nikolai was able to wrap one arm around Vladimir's neck and another over his head and twisted until he heard a snap.

Nikolai dropped the lifeless heap to the floor and turned to Danny. "Come on!"

Nikolai and Danny ran out of the room in time to see Matt and several other CTU agents rush in. Danny rushed towards his father who embraced him in a hug.

"Where Marenkov?" Matt asked, still clinging his son.

Nikolai shook his head. "I don't know. They took him in another room."

Matt passed Danny on to a female agent who took him outside, while Matt opened one of the other bedroom doors. There, he found Marenkov, barely alive in a pool of his own blood, Galina knelt sobbing beside him. Alexi was nowhere in sight.

Matt knelt down next to him. "Get a medic!" He yelled, knowing it was too late.

Marenkov managed to weakly hold up one hand to Matt. "He does not know everything." Marenkov croaked.

"Who?" Matt whispered.

"Seven... one... eight... three... two..."

Before Matt could even think to ask what that meant, Marenkov collapsed to the floor, one final breath escaping through his lips.

Matt just knelt there beside Marenkov's body, Galina weeping next to him, too caught up in everything that had just happened to even wonder what he'd just heard...

4:59:57 . . . 4:59:58 . . . 4:59:59 . . . 5:00:00 . . .

NEXT: As CTU struggled to figure out the meaning of Marenkov's final words, a revelation about Alexi's employer leads Matt to look for information from a familiar face...