Carol tied her dressing robe around herself before gently closing the bedroom door behind her as she left the room. Mark was still sleeping, she didn't want to wake him, things would still be tense from the night before. She padded down the stairs and began to put the first aid kit away as she thought about Jack.
Had he really gone after Mark? She knew that at least some of her partners words were untrue, if Jack picked a fight with anybody he would do it alone - he would never use numbers. Never. It just wasn't Jack. So if Mark had lied about this detail, surely the entire story was a fabrication?
That was harder to buy. Mark was hurt, somebody had clearly given him a beating, and her brother had been furious. She had seen it in his eyes as she had promised him things would be okay and that she could deal with it, the quiet anger that lurks inside quietly until its released… and then becomes unstoppable.
If Jack had hurt Mark, she wouldn't be surprised.
As she refilled the coffee pot she sighed, rubbing a sore spot on her neck. It was slightly bruised from the night before. She tried to ignore the 'incident' as she brewed the hot drink, knowing that thinking about it would only cause her upset and pain and that was something she couldn't deal with at seven in the morning.
The door bell chimed.
Carol quickly glanced at the time, it was too early for the post man, who was there? The door chimed a second time and Carol dashed through the hallway towards the entrance hall, scared the shrill sound would wake the sleeping beast.
She almost looked annoyed when she saw the police officers waiting on her door step. Almost; until she remembered the help they had provided last night when she had been in trouble. She knew she should be grateful for their efforts, but was a follow up call really necessary?
"My name is Officer Weston," the man flashed his identification as he spoke, "may I please step inside?"
"Is this really necessary," Carol said, knowing Mark would only blame her if he knew the cops had paid yet another visit to the house. "Everything was cleared up last night," she said, trying to appear calm but annoyed.
"I have a warrant," Weston said, as Carol stepped aside Weston handed it to her as the three assisting officers marched into the premises.
Jack was surprised to find the warehouse unlocked. He let himself in and Daniel greeted him enthusiastically. Dressed in black combat wear the giddiness he displayed seemed misplaced. Jack felt his stomach turn, how could somebody be excited about causing destruction?
"My bro's upstairs waiting," he said before running to the stairs and taking them two at a time. Jack followed slower, not so eager to greet the man waiting for him.
Where as Danny had been a bundle of energy Mike sat on a stool by the dusty makeshift bar calm and reserved.
"Glad you could make it," he said coldly, Jack just nodded.
"I guess that means you really are in, no matter what?" He asked, referring to Jacks words from the night before.
"Yes. I told you, I wanna help," he paused, wondering if his next utterance was smart or not, before deciding to go ahead anyway, "I always followed TEIN's progress over the internet."
Mike blinked twice but tried to look unfazed, "you've certainly done you're research Jack," he said slowly, before motioning for him to sit with a wave of his hand.
"So what is it I'll be a part of?" Jack asked, trying to sound curious without over-doing it.
"Change," Michael said, adding nothing else. He liked to play with his words. Daniel, who had been watching the exchange jumped in, happy to fill in his brothers words.
"Were gonna bomb them to hell!" He said, before imitating the sound of a blast with his hands over his mouth. Jack felt himself shiver, this man couldn't be playing with a full deck of cards.
"Who?" Jack asked, swallowing another shiver.
"Everyone," Michael said, smiling again at his evasive answer.
"Listen," Jack said, standing up and shoving his hands into the pockets in his jeans, "I don't want to jump through hoops - I want locations, times, everything."
"You sound like you've done this before," Mike said.
"And if I have?" Jack said defensively, not knowing how the smarter of the brother would react. He chose to say nothing, Daniel again jumping in for him.
"One huge bomb, one busy shopping mall, today!" He said, briefly answering Jacks questions, "that do anything for you?" He asked, his foot tapping the floor faster and faster.
"I guess," Jack said, looking uncertain. How would this play out? He needed to get to the device, he decided, and disarm it. The he could play along with the brothers and walk them straight into custody.
"What equipment do we have?"
Like a dog sat by his masters feet Danny looked to his elder brother for permission before answering. "Just a bomb. A bomb with enough juice to go, go GO!" He said, getting excited. "And a back pack," he added with a shrug.
Michael decided to intervene. "We decided to scrap all our equipment and contacts after yesterdays raid, we don't want anything to touch us, so were just gonna dive right into it. The longer we take to plan the more time were giving the feds to find us."
"Makes sense," Jack said, studying his hands. The drastic difference in the behaviour of the two men made him uncomfortable, Daniel was displaying a side Jack hadn't seen the day before, and it made him nervous and anxious. "When do we go?"
Michael stood up from the stood and slowly stepped closer to Jack. "Soon. But we need to clear something up first," he said slowly, his eyes turning darker as he took another step closer.
Sensing a threat Jack also stood, ready to pull his weapon from his waistband if necessary.
"We found somebody watching this place last night," Mike said, "I caught the person. They said they were looking for you, Jack…"
Michael gave Jack a shove before telling him to look behind the bar. He moved across and leant over the splintering wood as his insides turned, not knowing what was happening. As he looked over he saw a pair of legs on the floor. He followed them up and eventually recognised the bound and unconscious figure of Jennifer Wilde on the floor. Closing his eyes Jack felt more guilt than worry stab at him. He'd gotten her brother killed, maybe that's why she followed him, what would happen to her now? He had taken her brother, would she die because of him too?
Michaels voice brought Jack back to the present as he pushed away from the bar and faced the man. He clenched his fists to hide the trembling in his hands.
"We can get back on track once you explain this complication," Mike said, smirking slightly, "see, she claimed that the man she was looking for was a federal agent, Jack, working for the CTU."
Jack swallowed hard not daring to move as the eldest Wilkes slowly upholstered his weapon.