Complications

A/N: A little something from season 2/3 that has kept me entertained while waiting for the latest season of 24. I don't think there are any spoiler concerns here, but if you haven't seen up to season 3 yet, you might want to stay away... and go to the store and buy season 3 right now! Then you can come back and read this. Also, when I started this story, my original plan was to make it fit seamlessly in the 24 universe, but it's taken on a life of its own and I couldn't help but allow it to become the alternate universe story that it eventually becomes. Please review. I'm new to the 24 fanfic community and would love input from everyone here.

Kate took a deep breath before determinedly dialling the remainder of his phone number. She took another steadying breath while listening to the ringing on the other end.

"Bauer."

"Hi, Jack."

"Kate."

The simple sound of her name spoken in the soft timber of his voice brought tears to her eyes. She swallowed them in the silence between them.

"Jack, I'm sorry to call and I know you just got back, but…" She paused, not knowing how to proceed.

"I was going to call," he offered in the silence.

"I know you would have, but I couldn't wait any longer. I missed you." This last was just barely above a whisper. Another deep breath. "We need to talk, Jack."

"Listen Kate, I'm sorry I haven't called, but I've been busy and it's not that easy to just…"

"That's not what I need to talk to you about. I know it's hard for you to come back into your old life after you've been undercover for so long. Kim warned me about that." Kate paused, closing her eyes. "There's something I have to tell you. And it's so hard to do over the phone."

"I'll come over."

"No, not yet. Not like this." Eyes opened, she took another deep breath. "I don't know any other way to do this, except to just say it, so I will. Jack, I'm pregnant."

Kate silently listened for Jack's response on the other end. The turmoil continued to grow inside her until finally she couldn't wait for his answer any longer.

"Jack, I know this a huge shock to you. It was a huge shock for me. And then I was so happy to have a part of you with me while you were gone. But then the time passed and I worried. I worried that I would have to do this without you."

Kate's voice broke as she started to lose control of her emotions, tears running freely down her cheeks.

"Kate…"

She sniffled slightly in the silence that followed her name. Breathing deeply, she continued: "And then Kim would call and reassure me. And then I realized that so much time would pass before I could tell you. After a few months I knew I couldn't tell you face to face." She laughed slightly. "You would figure it all out before I could even speak your name. I didn't want you to find out like that."

"Kate, I have a few more things to take care of and then I'm going to come by, okay?"

"Take as long as you need, Jack. I'm home for the rest of the day."

Jack replaced the phone in its cradle. He was completely taken aback by the news Kate had given him. He was going to be a father. Again. He was going to be the father of a twenty-one year old and newborn at the same time. This couldn't be happening. He had just gotten his old life back. Well, not really, but he was working on it.

His eyes strayed to the photo on the corner of his desk. Closing his eyes, he could hear her words clearly: "I keep thinking that maybe this is the second chance we've been talking about." Those weren't Kate's words, but Teri's. She had just finished telling him that he was going to be a father again. How he had wished then that they could get the second chance she spoke of, that he wouldn't have to sacrifice himself for the sake of his daughter. How he had wished afterwards that things had gone originally as planned. Now he wondered if this was his second chance at that second chance?

He shook his head in answer to his silent question. Kate hadn't mentioned a second chance. He had treated her too poorly for that to be an option. He was trying to help her when he left her. In the end it hadn't worked. She didn't give up on him as easily as he'd hoped and eventually, she learned that he was going undercover. She had argued with him, fought for them then. He hadn't let her. It had been ugly, his words, his actions. He cringed inwardly when he remembered some of the brutality. He was still getting used to the drugs then and couldn't always control himself. He had never hurt her, physically, but he knew he had scared her. He had scared himself. In the end, he got what he wanted; she had given up on them.

She was pregnant then. The revelation scared him. Some of their encounters had become violent at the end. Pushing and shoving, broken dishes and doors slammed. What if she had slipped then? What if he had? Would he ever have been able to forgive himself if she lost the baby she carried now? Would he have known?

He forced his thoughts away from what could have happened and focused on what did happen. Kate was going to have a baby. His baby. 'My baby.' A smile slowly surfaced as he remembered the way he felt when he held Kim for the first time. 'Maybe this is my second chance.'

Kate replaced the phone in its cradle. 'Well, it's done now,' she thought. 'The hard part is over. Right, like that was the hard part.'

She tried to keep herself occupied with the papers she had taken home from the office. It didn't help.She continually found herself staring blankly at the computer screen, straining for the sound of his SUV in the driveway. Frustrated, she cleaned up her desk. 'Looks like I'm not getting anything done today.'

After making a cup of tea, she settled on the couch in the front room, trying to read the latest pregnancy book given to her by her assistant. A half hour later, she put the book down, still on the same page, mentally berating herself for telling him to take his time.

Kate was debating the merits of cooking dinner over ordering in when she heard the door close in the driveway. She stood at the door and almost returned to the couch before he could realize that she had literally been sitting there waiting for him to arrive. 'No games,' she thought to herself. 'He knows I've been waiting for the last couple hours. No need to make him think otherwise. Hell, I've waited over six months for him, what's a couple hours more?'

Kate took a deep breath to steady herself and pulled open the door. Jack was already on the other side, hand in the air, poised to knock. He was taken slightly off guard by the sudden opening of the door and before he could recover, she smiled and motioned him into the foyer.

"Come in, Jack. Can I get you anything? Coffee… tea… a good stiff drink?"

He had been looking down when he came in. Not at her, not at her stomach, but down. Like there was something very important on the floor before him. He looked at her after that last comment and smiled. Not a full smile, but at least one corner of his mouth turned up slightly and the corners of his eyes crinkled almost imperceptibly.

"You know, now that you mention it, a cold beer would be nice."

He followed her into the kitchen and sat at the island while she rummaged in the fridge to get them each their respective drinks.

"Heineken?" Jack raised an eyebrow in her direction.

"Yeah, Dad's been on this new thing. Heineken, football and pretzels. What more could a man ask for in life?"

Kate finished pouring herself a glass of tomato juice, with ice, and held it up in Jack's direction. "My new thing. I can't get enough lately."

She settled in across from him. A minute of uncomfortable silence passed between them. Jack turned his gaze back downwards, focusing on the counter top, rotating his beer bottle slowly from left to right.

"Jack," she began, realizing that she had to; he wasn't ready yet. "I don't want you to feel cornered by this. What am I saying? Of course, you feel cornered. Of course you feel like you have no choice in this. You don't, I guess. I'm going to have a baby and you're the father. There's nothing you or I can do to change that."

At least now he was looking at her. She continued: "I know you, your life, your job. I understand how important CTU is to you. I guess what I'm saying is: I'm not going to ask you to make any difficult choices. I'm not going to give you any ultimatums. It's not all or nothing. You can choose, Jack. You decide how much or how little, how big or how small. You decide what and when and how you're going to be a part of this baby's life."

Jack's face was an unreadable mask. He upended the beer and then returned it to the counter with a bang. Kate jumped at the sudden sound.

"Well, isn't that so very noble of you, Kate. You're not going to ask anything of me. I can choose how much or how little." Kate physically moved back from the sarcasm in his voice.

"And you know me. God, Kate. What kind of monster do you think I am? You think that I could just ignore that I have a child? You think that the only reason that I would want to be a part of my baby's life is because of some sense of obligation that came from you. That somehow you can just release me and then I'm free. Is that really what you think of me?"

Kate just stared at him, stunned into silence by his angry outburst. She had been thinking about this conversation for months now. She thought she had figured it all out. She obviously had thought wrong.

Jack scrubbed his hands over his face. "Oh God. I'm going to have a baby that is raised by a woman who thinks I'm a monster. He or she is going to hate me for the rest of my life."

"That's not true, Jack and you know it!" It was Kate's turn to be angry now. "I can't believe you think I would use this baby against you. That I would turn him against you. I still love you, Jack. You left me, remember? You didn't want to come back to me, remember? All I asked was for you to call when you were home safe. All I said was to let me know that I didn't have to worry anymore. Remember? You couldn't even do that for me. If it wasn't for Kim, I'd still be glued to CNN, waiting to hear about the tragic death of the CTU agent who was murdered while he was undercover."

Hot, angry tears splashed on the counter before she could wipe them away. Her head in her hands, she continued, barely loud enough for Jack to hear. "I know the only reason you're standing here right now is because of this baby. I know that he's the only reason that I get to still have some part of your life. I just don't want you to feel like you have to be more to me than you want to be. I just want you to know that there is no obligation here."

She hadn't realized that he had moved until his hand was gently rubbing her back. He pressed a kiss against the top of her head. Kate held herself stiff for a moment before giving in, leaning against him, finding the comfort in his embrace that she'd been yearning for over these past lonely months. Jack continued to hold her, tucking her head beneath his chin, running his hands up and down her back.

"I'm sorry," he whispered to the top of her head. He wasn't sure what he was apologizing for… there were so many apologies that he owed her. He continued to hold her, his mind trying to figure out where they would go next.

After a minute, Kate made a small noise and pulled away from Jack. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to do this." She wiped her face, trying to erase the evidence of her tears.

"I know." The soft timbre of his voice brought memories of the many late nights they had spent lying in bed, talking long after they should have been asleep. He tucked her hair behind her ear.

She stood up then, moving away from the familiar gesture. 'Don't let him get too close. Remember, he wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for the baby.'

"Well, there certainly is a lot to get you caught up on. Where should I start?"

'So, that's how it's going to be,' Jack thought. 'I don't know why I expected any different.' "Well, the due date would be a good place to start."

"Right. October 22nd. I have an ultrasound if you want to see it?"

She moved into the other room to find the ultrasound, talking as she went. "I decided to find out the baby's sex." She returned to the kitchen. "Do you want to know?"

Jack was lost in his own thoughts and didn't hear her question. He was just beginning to process everything he had missed in the time he was gone. That first moment that she found out she was pregnant. The fear and wonder and hope that she would have felt. Again, he remembered when Teri had told him about the baby they never had. When he had been preparing to die and he thought about all the firsts he was going to miss. How happy and sad he had been at the same time. Kate had probably felt some of that. She had been alone, with no way of knowing if she would be alone forever.

"Jack?"

Pulled from his thoughts he focused on the tiny image she held out to him. He felt his heart swell with acceptance. This is my child.

"Well? Do you want to know if it's a boy or girl, or not?"

He would've waited for the big day. That's what he and Teri had done for Kim. But Kate already knew. It wouldn't be the same if he was the only one who didn't know. "It's a boy."

"How can you tell?"

Kate watched the slight smile return. "I can't. You slipped."

"Oh. Sorry." She smiled back. "You'll have to tell Kim that she's going to have a little brother. I told her about the baby, but I didn't tell her this. I wanted you to be the first I told about something."

Again, Jack was reminded of how difficult the last couple of months were for her. She seemed to be handling everything well… better than well. 'Of course she seems like she's got everything under control. She's tough. And she doesn't want me to think she needs me. I'm sure I don't look like I'm doing that bad either. I'm sure she can't tell that I'm already trying to figure out if I can make it home or if I'll have to use my emergency stash in the glove box. No. I can make it home. I'll just have to get going soon.'

"Have you eaten? I was just getting ready to order some dinner. I wouldn't mind some company." Kate just barely stopped herself from adding 'for a change'. She didn't want to come across as needy to Jack. 'But it would be nice to share a meal with someone besides my Dad. And it would probably make it easier to talk.'

'Dinner. And she hasn't ordered it yet. At least two more hours. I don't think I can make it that long. I haven't made it that long yet.' Jack looked up from the ultrasound to the woman before him and found something there that had him agreeing to dinner before he even realized that he had.

Jack found himself climbing into his SUV almost four hours later. The time had actually flown by, after about fifteen minutes of additional awkwardness. Then something clicked and the easiness between them from so many months ago returned. That something that made it so you wanted to spend time with that other person. 'I forgot what that felt like. I could never find that feeling, never let myself find it, when I was in Mexico.'

He had stayed too long. His addiction had started rear its head over the last hour, demanding his attention. He fought it, trying to recapture the ease, the calm that her presence gave him. But the time had passed, long passed. And he left. J ust before pulling onto the ramp that lead to the freeway, he pulled over. Hands shaking, he unlocked the glove box. As he rolled up his sleeve, his eye saw the edge of the ultrasound, still visible from beneath the shaving kit. Jack looked at the drug paraphernalia spread out before him. 'What kind of father am I going to be? Kate, you think you know me. You know who I used to be. You don't know the man that is going to be the father of your son. You don't want to.' Determinedly, he put the drugs away. 'I can wait a half hour. I've waited this long. I can make it home.'