Hi and thanks again for the reviews. My original outline had this as the last chapter, but it started to get so long and unwieldy that I decided to make it into two chapters. That left for a little bit of an awkward ending to the chapter. I hope to make up for that when I post the last chapter in a few days. It has always been my intention to post this story in its entirety before the start of S5 in the US because it seemed to me that the story has little appeal once we all know what really happens to Jack. Since the new season starts in two days, I'm not sure that will happen. Despite that, I do hope that you'll all stay with me through the final chapter. And please, please, please, if you read take a second and review!

Chapter 5

The New Year progressed through a warmer than usual winter and into a glorious spring. Jack and Molly's romance heated up with the weather until it was clear to everyone in town that Molly Anderson and Jeff McCarthy were definitely "an item." Molly stopped in the coffee shop with some girlfriends a few days into the New Year. Phyllis quickly noted the horseshoe shaped necklace at the base of her throat and, as soon as the girls left, was on the phone to Millicent. A couple of weeks later, Jack and Molly were seen holding hands as they walked down the street and Phyllis' friend Alice Schaefer whose daughter worked with Molly called to tell her that "Jeff picked up Molly after work on Friday afternoon." The town gossips suddenly had something new to talk about and they made the most of it.

Jack had become more and more comfortable with his new life and his new love. He was also comfortable that his cover was good and decided that it was time to contact Tony. He had always planned to do so but wanted to make sure that it was safe. He had easily tracked Tony down through the internet and wasn't particularly surprised to find that Secretary of Defense Heller had given Tony his old job. Tony was well suited for it and Jack knew that he would be good at it.

Finding Tony was easy. How to contact him without putting either Tony or himself at risk was another issue entirely. Jack eventually decided to create a bogus webpage "advertising" a dude ranch vacation. He pulled together some photos of the ranch including one of himself roping a calf that Molly had taken the summer before. The picture was taken at a distance and if viewed casually, would not reveal Jack's identity. Jack hoped that Tony would become suspicious of the advertisement and look more closely at it. Photo enhancing software that Tony would have access to would make Jack easily identifiable. Unfortunately, Tony would have no way to reply. Jack simply couldn't risk that. He would just have to hope that Tony figured it out before deleting what looked like just another email advertisement.

More importantly, Jack and Tony had agreed prior to his escape that once Jack felt that it was safe to contact him, Tony would get in touch with Kim and tell her the truth about her father. Jack had mixed emotions about Kim knowing the truth. He hated that she couldn't know from the beginning but he felt that it was important for her own safety that she believe that he was dead. If either the US or Chinese governments were watching her, she had to play the grieving daughter. If she failed to do so in any way, he was afraid that they might hurt her or abduct her to draw him out of hiding. He wasn't afraid of giving himself up; he just didn't want Kim to be hurt in any way.

Now that a year and a half had gone by and Kim would be past grieving for him, Jack wondered if it was really best if she just continued to think that he was dead. Would she just be angry with him for what he had put her through? He prayed that she would understand why he did what he did and that she could forgive him. He knew that Tony and Michelle would do their best to explain his position. As his plan to escape took shape, he took a couple of minutes to write her a letter telling her that he loved her and begging her not to hate him for what he had done to her. He gave the letter to Tony to deliver when it was safe to do so.

Spring and summer came and brought with them long days filled with hard work. Jack was up before the sun and frequently fell asleep just after sundown. Ted's 15 year old grandson Troy had come to spend the summer at the ranch. Troy both looked and acted like his rancher grandfather. Ted, Jr. had shunned the physical labor and the long hours necessary to run a ranch, but Troy loved it. Jack enjoyed the boy's company and took every opportunity to teach him the ropes.

Under Jack's management, Ted was amazed to see how well the ranch was doing. He had managed it alone for years, but Jack brought some new ideas and enthusiasm to ranching that had increased his profits significantly. Already holding more land than almost any rancher in Alberta, Ted decided to buy some additional property. He put Jack in charge of assessing any available properties and negotiating the prices. Jack attacked the responsibility, as he did all new challenges, with all of his energy.

Christmas approached and Jack saw it much differently this year than he had the last. Instead of dreading it, he couldn't wait for it to get here. He frequently found himself humming Christmas carols and he got the old sleigh out of storage just so that he and Molly could take an occasional ride. When he thought back to all of the romantic times he had spent in his past with Teri and Kate and Audrey, none of them seemed to match up to the romance of snuggling in the sleigh, wrapped in a blanket with Molly. After a long ride on a cold night, they would end up taking a hot shower and falling into a warm bed to make love all night. It was like all of those "date movies" he had been dragged to over the years only so much more satisfying when it was happening to you instead of the guy on the screen.

Neither of Ted's sons were able to bring their families in for the holiday, so Ted decided to go to Vancouver and spend some time with Andy and his family. He did so partially to spend the time with his son, who he rarely saw, but also to give Jack and Molly some time together. They had dated steadily for a full year now and Ted was anxious to see them get married. He knew that he needed to stay out of it. Jack and Molly were obviously happy with their current relationship. They maintained separate apartments, but Ted was well aware that they spent four or five nights a week together. If they were happy, he knew that he shouldn't care, but in this circumstance he was being a little selfish. He recognized that he was getting on in years and he wanted to see his daughter happily married before he died. Not to mention the fact that he wanted the chance to see any grandchildren that Molly produced.

Jack and Molly celebrated Christmas and New Years together quietly. Ted came home a week later unhappy to find that Christmas had not brought the engagement announcement that he had anticipated. The winter in Alberta was cold and dark. It was a quiet time on the ranch that gave Jack plenty of time to work on the business end of things. He was working in Ted's study on the computer one day when the phone rang. It was an elderly woman who identified herself as Irene Raymond. She had heard that Ted was looking to buy up some property and explained to Jack that she and her husband had grown too infirmed over the last few years to continue running the small ranch. She admitted that it had fallen into a state of disrepair and that it needed a lot of work. She was hoping that Ted was interested in the property.

Jack listened sympathetically to the woman. In the background he could hear someone, he presumed that it was her husband, coughing a deep emphysematous cough. He asked the location of the property and she gave him an address that was about 90 or so miles from Ted's ranch. Jack started to tell her that he was sorry but that the property was simply too far from Ted's for him to be interested in it, but something stopped him. She sounded so sad and desperate. She was so hopeful that Ted would be interested in the property. With the money from the sale she and her husband could move into a retirement apartment where her husband would be closer to a medical facility. It was obvious that she and her husband had invested their lives in their little ranch and now, despite the fact that they loved it, it had become a burden that they couldn't manage. Jack decided to take a look at the property; maybe he and Ted could work something out.

He told the woman that he would be out to look at the property on Saturday. She thanked him repeatedly and they disconnected. Jack set the phone down and picked it back up in the same motion. It was Molly's number that he dialed.

"Hi, babe," he said unable to keep from smiling when he heard her voice. "What kind of plans do you have for Saturday?"

"I was going to give myself a facial and do my nails. Do you have a better offer for me?" she asked.

"I was going to take a look at a piece of property that might be of interest to your father. Do you want to ride along?"

"I guess so. Where is it?"

Jack gave her the address.

"Jeff, that's a hundred miles from here. Does Daddy really want a piece of property that far away?"

"I don't know. I haven't talked to him about it." He went on to tell Molly about the phone call. "The lady just sounded so desperate to sell and…"

"and you're such a softie," Molly said interrupting him.

"Okay, so I'm a softie. I just couldn't say 'no' over the phone. Let's see what looks like. If it's a nice property, I'll talk to your dad. Maybe we can invest a little money into it to fix it up and sell it at a profit. If it's a total dump, then, it'll break my heart, but we'll tell her 'no'." Jack liked it that Molly had referred to him as "a softie." No one would have ever thought of referring to Jack Bauer that way. Audrey may have been the most inclined to do so until she actually saw him in action. He doubted that she ever considered him "a softie" after that.

"Okay, it's a deal," Molly agreed. "It sounds more interesting than doing my nails anyway."

Jack told Molly that he would pick her up around 8:30 and they would get some breakfast at the coffee shop before leaving town. "It gives Phyllis something to talk about all weekend," Jack laughed. "We have to make sure that we hold hands across the table and kiss a lot."

"You know that it drives her crazy that you're off the market," Molly informed him. "Before I got in the way, you were on her 'husband radar'."

"Get out! You're imagining things, sweetheart," Jack retorted.

"I am not! She thinks you have a nice ass!"

"How do you know that?"

"She told me."

"She told you? What did you say?" he asked not sure if he wanted to know. Molly's sense of humor could be biting at times.

"I told her that she was right that you do have a great ass and that it's even better when it's naked. I also mentioned that the rest of you isn't bad either, especially naked."

"Molly! No wonder the woman looks at me the way she does!" Jack and Molly hung up both laughing and looking forward to their little adventure on Saturday.

Saturday arrived and Jack picked up Molly at 8:30 as promised. They ate a big breakfast at the coffee shop. Phyllis had just finished baking cinnamon rolls and the entire restaurant was filled with the aroma. Jack and Molly ordered one to share along with their breakfasts and made sure Phyllis was looking while they fed pieces of it to each other and licked the gooey icing off of each other's fingers. They smiled knowing that everyone in town would hear about it within a matter of hours.

Jack and Molly drove the hour and a half to the Raymond's ranch. It was a nice ride. Ted's property was on the eastern edge of the rolling foothills that eventually led to the Rocky Mountains. The Raymond's property was almost due east of Ted's in the vast expanse of prairie.

Jack and Molly parked in front of the ranch house and got out. Jack surveyed the house quickly. It was a good looking house that was in need of a coat of paint and some work on the trim. He noted some gaps around the windows that needed to be filled in. Overall, the house wasn't in bad shape and it was the land that Ted would be interested in, not the house.

Irene Raymond answered the door. Despite the frailty that Jack had detected over the phone, Irene was a sturdy looking woman of nearly 70. She was small in stature, standing only about 5 feet tall, and had a small frame. Her skin was tanned to a permanent, leathery brown from years of work on the ranch. Jack noted that her hands were calloused and her handshake was firm.

"Mr. McCarthy," she said as she reached out to shake his hand. "I'm Irene Raymond. I'm happy to meet you."

Jack introduced Molly and the two entered the house.

"Come in to the dining room," Irene requested. "My husband Al is waiting for us there. I have everything pertaining to the ranch on the table."

Jack and Molly were introduced to Al, who looked much older than Irene and breathed with the help of a portable oxygen tank. The four sat down at the table to look over the land maps that Irene had set out for them. The ranch was a reasonable size but over the last ten years Al and Irene had only used a portion of it. They had stopped raising cattle and had concentrated on pigs since they took up less room and were less physical work. The portion of land that they hadn't been using had, they admitted, become a waist high grassland in dire need of plowing and reseeding. Besides the house and garage, the property had two out buildings: a barn and a stable. The Raymonds were currently boarding several horses in the stable to make some extra money. After reviewing the land maps, Jack and Molly walked outside to look over the buildings.

"Nice place," Jack commented as the two walked to the barn. "The asking price is very reasonable."

"It's a nice piece of land, but it needs a lot of work. Jeff, I think we're wasting these people's time. My father isn't going to be interested in this place. We should just tell them the truth and go. I don't think it's fair to get their hopes up," Molly said. Jack didn't seem to be listening and Molly could tell. He was examining the barn structure, making mental notes of the work that needed to be done.

They went back to the house following their brief tour. The snow covering the fields prevented them from going out to see more of the property. Irene and Al stood hopefully in the front window watching the couple step back up on the porch.

"What do you think?" Irene asked anxiously.

"The place is in need of some work," Jack responded honestly. "I'm not sure that this is quite what Mr. Anderson is looking for but let me talk to him and we'll get back to you."

They shook hands and Jack and Molly left. They drove about ten minutes before either of them spoke.

"That was wrong, Jeff," Molly said quietly. "You know that Daddy isn't interested in that place. Why didn't you tell them?"

"I didn't have the heart," Jack admitted.

"You're going to have to tell them eventually."

"Maybe I will, but I really do want to talk to your father. Maybe we can work something out."

Jack took Molly home and returned to the ranch. He and Ted discussed the property and Ted agreed with Molly that the place was too far and in need of too much work for him to buy it. Ted did offer to call some other ranchers that he knew in hopes that the property would suit one of them.

Jack barely slept the next two nights. Every time he closed his eyes he saw the Raymond's ranch. The sky had been so blue when he visited and the land so perfectly level. The house was nice and just a little work would make it beautiful. The barn and stable were sturdy. They needed some repairs, but nothing major or structural in nature. More and more as he envisioned the ranch, he saw himself there. He was on top of his horse herding cattle or roping a calf. Molly was there, too. She was riding beside him, working with him, raising a family with him.

Jack rolled out of bed on Monday morning grateful that the sun had finally risen and he had an excuse to get up. After dressing and taking care of early morning chores, he made his way over to the house.

"Morning, Jeff," Lila said as he entered the kitchen. "Ready for some breakfast?"

"Not this morning, Lila. Just some coffee," Jack said as he filled a mug. "Is Ted in the study?"

"In there reading his paper," Lila told him. "You sure you don't want breakfast. I'm making hotcakes."

"Coffee's fine for now; maybe after I talk to Ted." Jack turned and went toward the study.

"Morning," he called as he entered the room.

"Good morning," Ted responded.

"Any luck with a buyer for the Raymond ranch?"

"None. I talked to some friends over the weekend. Everyone feels the same way. It's too far away. No one is interested."

Jack nodded and looked at the floor for a moment. "I'm interested," he said as he looked up.

"You're interested?"

"I've wanted a place of my own for a while. I thought it would be in four or five years, but that ranch is perfect for me. It needs work, but the price is right. I can scrape together the down payment from what I've saved. It'll be tight for a while, but I think I can make it."

"You're serious about this, aren't you?" Ted queried.

"Very serious."

"I would hate to lose you, but if this is what you want, then I'm happy for you." Ted stopped for a moment. "Have you told Molly yet?"

"No, not yet. I wanted to talk to you about that. If I'm going to buy my own place, I want Molly to be with me. I'd like to ask her to marry me and I'd like your permission."

Ted smiled. "And if I said 'no'? I suspect that you'd do it anyway. You don't need my permission, son."

Jack was smiling now, too. "Then I'm asking for your blessing."

"You've got my blessing. You've always had that. I would like to ask for one thing, though. I'd like you to tell Molly the truth, all of it, Jack."

Jack nodded. The sound of his name almost made him cringe. He no longer thought of himself as Jack Bauer. His life was so far removed from that of Jack Bauer that the identity had truly been lost. "I plan to tell her everything. She deserves to know."

Jack left the house so happy that his feet were barely touching the ground. He called the Raymonds and, again, noncommittally told them that he was trying to work out a deal and that he would be back to them in a few days. He wanted to tell them that he was buying the ranch, but there was one sticking point. Once he told Molly the truth about himself, he didn't know if she would still love him or want to be with him. If she rejected his proposal after hearing about his past, he would have to move on. His heart wouldn't allow him to be just 90 miles away from her and not have her as a part of this life. He would also have to change his identity again. He couldn't take the risk that she would turn him in once she knew the truth.

Jack called Molly at work and asked her to dinner at a nice restaurant just a few miles outside of Calgary. She was a little surprised that he wanted to go to such a nice place on a weeknight, but she was so busy at work that she didn't really give it much thought.

Next Jack drove into town and parked near the jewelry store. He had been eying up a small diamond solitaire for some time now. Had he seen the ring a few years ago he would have written it off as too small, but now it was perfect for his soon to be over stretched budget. Besides, he reasoned, it had a nice setting and Molly wasn't particularly flashy. All of her jewelry was small and conservative. He was sure that she would like it. He made Fred and Millicent at the jewelry story promise not to breathe a word to anyone.

"Millicent, I know that you and Phyllis are friends, but I need this to be a secret. If you tell Phyllis or anyone else, it'll be all over town in a heart beat. If Molly finds out before I give this to her, I'm holding you responsible," Jack said firmly.

Millicent was surprised by how stern Jeff McCarthy could be; it was a side of him that she hadn't seen before. She agreed knowing that it was the right thing to do but also knowing that it was going to kill her to keep this a secret. She just hoped that he popped the question soon or she was going to burst!

It was six o'clock when Jack picked Molly up for their date. He was dressed in a suit and, although he grew a full beard for warmth in the winter, he had shaved it off for the occasion.

"Look at you," Molly exclaimed as she stroked his cheek and kissed it softly. A lot of men, including her father, grew a beard in winter so she was used to it, but she really preferred him clean shaven. "Let's see… an expensive restaurant and a shave," she pondered with a smile. "I guess that means I owe you big when we get back tonight!"

Jack kissed her and pulled her in close. "What ever you think it's worth will be fine with me," he hissed seductively into her ear.

Molly thought her knees were going to give way as the tip of his tongue darted briefly into her ear. "Maybe we don't need dinner," she whispered back ready to drop her dress right there and give herself to him. What was it about this man that was so exciting?

"Oh, no," Jack replied. "Dinner first. It gives you time to think about what you'd like to do later." He pressed his lips into the crook of her neck and Molly groaned. She wasn't sure that she'd make it through dinner. It was a good thing that she was working a late shift the next day, because she had the feeling that it was going to be a long night.

They drove the distance to the restaurant and had a nice dinner. Jack was looking for just the right time to give Molly the ring, but decided that it would be best to wait until they were alone after dinner at her apartment. As they entered Molly's apartment, Jack could feel his insides form a solid knot. This was it. He would tell her everything and then hope she could still love him.

"Would you like some wine?" Molly asked.

"Sounds good," Jack answered. He watched while Molly opened the bottle and poured. "You know, I've been thinking about the ranch we looked at."

"Have you found a buyer?"

"I think so," he said as he looked anxiously about.

"Really?" Molly looked up somewhat surprised. "That's great. Who's interested?"

"I am," Jack said so softly as to be almost imperceptible.

Molly stopped what she was doing. "You are?"

"Yeah, I am," Jack repeated as he took a wine glass from Molly. "It's a great place, Molly. Plenty of room, nice house. It needs some work, but I can do that. I've wanted my own place. This is my chance."

Molly stared at him not sure whether to be happy or not. "So you're leaving? Does my dad know?"

"I talked to him today. He wished me luck." Jack paused for a moment and took a breath. "Actually, he wished us luck." He reached into his pocket and withdrew the ring box. Molly's eyes flicked back and forth from Jack's face to the box in his hand. She said nothing.

Jack took Molly's wine glass fro her hand and set it down. Then he opened the ring box and removed the ring. Tears were already forming in Molly's eyes as Jack took the ring and slipped it onto her finger.

"The thing is, Molly," Jack swallowed nervously. "I don't want you to be a ranch manager's wife. I want you to be the ranch owner's wife."

Molly looked at the ring and threw her arms around Jack's neck. "Oh, Jeff!" she cried. "I don't know what to say. I love you so much!"

Jack stiffened a bit. He eased her arms from around his body and held both of her hands in his. The rest of this wasn't going to be so easy. "I'm hoping that you'll say 'yes', but before you make a decision, Molly, there's a lot we need to talk about." Jack led her to the desk where her computer sat. "I've told you some things about my past, but it's time for you to know everything."

Molly turned to face him and stopped their forward progress. "What are you talking about? I know about your wife and your daughter. I know about your heroin addiction. I've told you; those don't matter to me. They're in the past. I love you."

"Sweetheart, my wife, my daughter, the heroin, that all just scratches the surface. There's more that you need to know that you might not like."

He leaned over and typed in a web address. Molly was surprised to see a picture of him appear on the screen. She looked at him and back at the screen. "Molly, my name isn't 'Jeff McCarthy'. It's Jack Bauer. I think this will be easier to understand if you read this. When you're finished, I'll fill in any details that you want to know."

She turned away from him and sat down without saying a word, quite obviously stunned by Jack's revelation, and began to read an LA Times article from a few years earlier. The headline was in bold print.

SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE, LONG TIME CIA AGENT KILLED IN TERRORIST ATTACK

Jack stood behind her with his hands on her shoulders. His eyes closed, he prayed fervently that Molly would still love him when this night was over. Jack Bauer, despite his solitary, lone soldier image, was a man who needed to love and be loved. But at the same time, who he was and what he did made him hard to love.

Years ago when Teri asked him to leave, the shock of suddenly having no one to love sent him reeling. Nina had conveniently been there to catch him and fill in the void. Later with Teri dead, his life spiraled out of control until he met Kate Warner. Jack was Kate's knight in shining armor. She loved him for who he was not in spite of it as Teri had. Breaking up with Kate, he had always told himself was for her own good, but it nearly killed him. Again with no one to love, this time he found relief in heroin. The habit had started before he left Kate, but it escalated after the dissolution of their relationship. Finally he met Audrey, but it was in another place, another time, far away from CTU. The Jack Bauer she loved wasn't real and when she was forced to meet the real Jack Bauer she didn't love him. Jack remembered that night at CTU when his heart was ripped to shreds and he wondered how he would go on. Only this time he didn't have a chance to dwell on it. The call he received from David Palmer changed his life and set into motion a series of events that meant an end to Jack Bauer and a new life for Jeff McCarthy.

Now that Molly knew the truth, could she, unlike Audrey, still love him? He massaged her shoulders lightly as if trying to knead his love under her skin so that it couldn't escape, so that she could feel it in the depths of her soul. He watched her reading the computer monitor before her. She was absently playing with the engagement ring, twisting it around her finger. Occasionally she would stop reading for a second and look down at it. She would move it just a fraction on an inch so that the light caught it just right. Jack feared that she was about to take if off.

"Leave it alone," he prayed over and over. "Please, baby, leave it alone."