Casey flopped back down on her bed, the wooden headboard banging against the wall from the effort. She leant her head against the wall squeezing her eyes shut for a moment. Carol watched from the doorframe, her daughter unaware of her presence as she composed herself. A faint smile crossed her lips as she watched Casey recite dates and events out loud, her eyes still closed, her face betraying the frustration she felt.
"Union of Militant Godless in 1921... Ban on Factions 1921... NEP was in 1922 and ended in 1927, War Communism started in…. 19..."
"18?" Her mother interrupted, giving up her position and entering the room, grinning as she saw the look of frustration grow across her daughters face.
"I should have known that," she muttered, reaching over to move the notepad filled with scattered notes so Carol could sit.
"You know you're working awfully hard on this sweetie."
"Yes, but its stupid, I keep revising but I'm just not learning it."
"What do you mean?" She asked, having already forgotten the reason for initially checking up on her daughter.
"I know the key things I just don't know how to apply them. I'm gonna fail…"
"I doubt that, but even if you do, at least you know its not because you didn't put enough work in."
"I know," she muttered unconvincingly.
"Whatever you get I'm proud of you," she stated honestly, happy to see a smile finally cross Casey's face.
"I know. I just don't want to have wasted a year. I can't stand the thought of re-sitting the whole year, I want to more forward not backwards. The move here was supposed to be a fresh start, remember? I want to get a head start but I already feel like I'm falling behind."
Kissing her daughter on the head Carol stood up, "You will do fine, I know you will. We've only been here 5 months honey, and you've already fallen back into the old routine. Plus you've had to catch up with changing college, sweetie, that's more than enough of a reason if you don't do as well as expected. Not that you will, you're just too hard on yourself."
"Thanks mum," she called to her retreating back before staring back down at the notes distastefully.
Carol moved through the house to the kitchen, still not able to sit in the living room. She'd been back in LA almost 5 months, and she still couldn't get used to the house. They had to have it, Mark and Casey fell in love with it, it was the least she could compromise after dragging them here. A new life it sometimes seemed; despite the fact that they had all lived in this city previously, only it had been Mark who had dragged them away before.
She was happy with the choice, she had a well paid job and Casey seemed to be doing better than she had been in San Jose, even Mark was enjoying the new start as much as he grumbled about it. Of course, the fact that she now saw her brother at least once a week was more than worth it, and when she had received 'the' phone call from her niece six months ago, she knew what she had to do.
She flinched as she thought back to that evening, although it had changed her life for the better she still didn't like the memory. When Kimberly had called she had felt her heart sink, 'he's dead' she had thought. She had been certain he had finally killed himself, he had been in a constant state of depression since Terri's death. When it happened she flew down to see him as often as she could but each time she left she felt even worse. He didn't get better, he never stopped mourning, it seemed with each visit he was substantially worse until she found she could visit no more.
As she had drawn in a shaky breath and tightly gripped the arm of her chair expecting to hear the worst, she had instead been thrown into emotional chaos. Relief that he was still here, and finally working again; but that couldn't match the worry and pain she felt when she had herd the news. Jack was in the hospital, awaiting a long recovery process, Kim had said. A heart attack. She had shared Kim's initial confusion at this news, until she herd more. Inflicted, she had said, as in torture.
She had packed up her backs immediately and taken Casey with her to skip the grief she would get about leaving her alone with Mark. She had been sick with worry during the flight, losing her stomach contents twice. Casey had held her mothers hand, white with fear herself, all she knew was that Jack was ill but with her mothers reactions she knew it was something much worse. Casey had pushed down the tears that threatened to spill every time the thought of losing Jack crossed her mind.
She loved him dearly and although he was only her uncle they were close enough to be brother and sister. Well, before they moved almost 100 miles away when she was just 9 years old. If she had known that his illness would bring them back to LA 8 years later she would have thanked God for his blessing in disguise. Only she didn't know, and like her mother, she spent the journey 'home' in a frantic state until finally, they arrived in St. Johns hospital. For Casey it was the first time back home in years, she hadn't been allowed to attend Terri's funeral as the situation had been upsetting enough for her.
They went directly to the emergency room where an emotional Kim flung herself into her aunts arms, sobbing so bad that she didn't see her cousin who was left to stand on her own awkwardly. Casey noticed a woman who had been sitting next to Kim so she went over, maybe she would know something about her uncle to put her worries to rest.
"Hey are you here to see Jack?"
"Yes, I'm Kate," the stranger said smiling warmly offering her hand which Casey took after hesitating slightly.
"I'm Casey, Jacks my uncle. No offence but I've not seen you before I don't think?" She asked knowing she could get away with being so blunt due to her ago. Not quite 18, she could still get away with being rude when she felt like it.
Kate laughed slightly but Casey could see the worry in her eyes. "We met just yesterday, but we've become very good friends. He saved me on more than one occasion."
Casey nodded taking a seat, looking down at the floor. She was more than curious about how Jack had saved her but knew she wasn't allowed to ask. Any questions about Jack's work had been strictly forbidden as a child and she fell back into the habit easily. Jack was a government agent, and she guessed he did dangerous things due to the injuries he sustained, but other than that she knew nothing. Something he mother made sure of too, knowing how much her daughter looked up to her younger brother.
The similarities between them often scared her, the quiet passive moods with the bouts of barely controlled anger. The way she could gather herself under control when necessary yet lose it in a second when at the end of her string. And that was the just the personality traits they shared, Carol tried to convince herself she hadn't noticed the similarities in their talents. In a few years time Casey would be able to do the kind of work Jack did, if she was taught how to apply her thoughts and skills differently. Carol had sworn she would never let that happen, Casey would never know how good she could be, she would get a sensible job when she was older, not live a life of danger like that of Jack. Jack or she never spoke about there similarities, but Carol knew he feared it as much as her, and would do everything in his power to stop it.
Jack was thankful for the 'no questions asked' rule they had had in place since Casey started talking. Carol thought he would be angry when she suggested it and was filled with compassion when she saw his eyes glimmer with pain as he confessed that he would love to have Terri do the same thing, for her and Kim. For there own sake, he had hastily added, making Carol all the more curious. She knew more than the others of what he did, only she wasn't aware of the guilt that was already building up inside of him, and that had been years ago when the girls were still babies.
Carol had eyed the woman talking to her daughter edgily, before casting a curious glance to Kim who took her out of the empty waiting room and into the hallway. She explained all she knew of Kate, and then went into detail about the doctors evaluation of her father. Carol had gasped in shock and Kim promised to make sure Casey knew none of it. He had an accident, they would say, which triggered a heart attack. That would cover for the scars which he would live with, if Casey ever saw them. It saddened Carol to see how easily and normal it seemed to Kim to be covering up Jack's wounds. She should have been shielded from it too, she thought, instead she was shielding others; something wasn't right there.
A few hours later Carol was invited in to see her brother who had been stabilised and was conscious. He had looked tired when she saw him, but other than that he seemed okay. She knew, of course, that all of his injuries besides a scratch on his eye were hidden beneath his bed sheets as he groggily apologised for bringing her all this way for nothing.
They had flew back three days later, and then Carol flew back down alone once Jack had been released from the hospital three weeks later. Casey didn't want to come this time, knowing her curiosity would be pushed too far and she didn't want to upset Jack by asking what had happened. She felt bad for not going, his face had lit up when he saw his niece waiting to see him in the hospital. He rarely saw her as she didn't come on the visits to LA, and it wasn't often he found the time to get all the way out to San Jose either.
Carol had stayed for two weeks with Jack, spending most of the time at his bedside worrying and catching up, reminiscing of the 'good times' they shared as children. After talking him to sleep one night she found herself unable to move away from his bedside, she hadn't realised how much she missed him until she had flew in. She hadn't realised just how close they were, despite her living away for the past 8 years. Most importantly, she found she didn't want to leave him again.
Nor Kim, who she also loved being with. She was normally at Jack's side too, trying to help, wanting to help. She had overheard a one sided conversation one night after Jack was sleeping. She was whispering to him, apologising for leaving him before, promising she would never do it again. Carol realised then that she needed to give them more time alone, they too had some catching up to do. Kim wasn't forthcoming on her activities after her mothers death, and Carol didn't press her. She knew she left Jack, but all that mattered was that she was back. She'd been hurt just as badly as he, and she was filled with pride and hope to see the two of them finally putting the pieces back together again.
On return from her third 2 week trip she had quietly spoken to Mark about the idea of moving back home. She didn't tell Casey in fear of getting her hopes high and then letting her down. Mark wasn't pleased with the idea, Carol had outright told him it was to be closer to Jack, despite knowing there was no love lost between the two. Mark was jealous of Jack, and Carol noticed how he tried to out do him on the few occasions they had been together since the big move. He had tried to brush her off by telling her he would look into it at work, having no intentions of turning his life upside down for her. They'd been together 11 years, and had happily left LA with him. The move hadn't been easy and it had been years before the new city felt like home. He wasn't going to let her drag him back now; the past 8 years hadn't been for nothing.
Hs opinion changed when he brought the conversation up with his boss the following Monday morning. Peters told him about an opening up in there LA office which wasn't being advertised. If he was thinking of moving back home, he could try get a transfer for the position. It would be a promotion with a 15 pay increase, he couldn't let the opportunity go as he was already qualified for the position.
He and Carol had talked about the move in more detail after that, where in the city they wanted to live, an appropriate college for Casey to get settled into, and a new job for herself. They broke the news to Casey the next day, and Jack the day after that. He was ecstatic at the thought of being near his family again, but didn't like the idea of them all going to so much effort for him.
Carol had shrugged him off, explaining Marks promotion to him, until eventually he gave in.
They were back home just over a month later, within walking distance to Jack's but not too close as to smother him. Mark didn't have far to travel to work, and Casey transferred to the local college. It was easy, and everybody seemed happy. The house wasn't perfect and Casey missed her friends whom she insisted on calling every night, but other than that, things finally felt right. As though something had been missing in her life since she moved away. She knew it was Jack, and now they could see him whenever they wanted things were going to become much easier for the pair of them. She hoped it would make things easier for Jack, and she couldn't deny the relief she would get from being able to keep a closer eye on him from now on.
She saw Jack everyday for another three weeks while he was still getting back on his feet, struggling with his injuries although he wouldn't admit it. She enjoyed the time with Jack and Kim, they had a lot of history to catch up on. When Jack was declared 'recovered' they saw less of each other, and when he took the position as Head of Field Operations, a new department in CTU the visits got less frequent. She would call him often, and he would stop by after work if the hour was reasonable. There was no problem, it made there visits more comfortable so they didn't run out of things to say to each other. Things were good for them all, better in fact, than they had been in a long time.