A/N: And here's the next chapter right as I said. Happy Fourth of July everyone American out there! If there's anyone not American ... still happy fourth of July I suppose :-). Once again, I am forever grateful for all your reviews! The next chapter should be up in a few days ... by Sunday at least (probably sooner). Without further ado, I give you chapter four, Back to CTU (which should give away at least some of the content of this chapter). ;-)
Disclaimer:Everything you recognize belongs to Fox and not me. I don't own 24. (Well the DVDs, but that's all!)
Never Without You
Chapter 4 – Back to CTU
4:00 – 5:00 PM
4:02:12
Jack walked away from them to call who had set up a conference in the situation room at CTU. Occasionally he looked back at all of them, which made Tony rather nervous.
After hanging up, he walked back, passing by Dina as he did so. "You're running out of time." She called out to him, "Save my son."
Jack ignored her plea and spoke to Castle. "Take her with us, we're going to need her."
Castle nodded and dragged her off, not sparing her or being careful of her bullet wound. Tony watched them, concerned, before deciding a terrorist who wanted innocents dead was not his first priority.
Jack gestured Tony to follow him back up the stairs to the main area of the hospital. They were walking there, followed by an entourage of CTU agents when Jack got another call from Driscoll.
Tony listened carefully, but was unable to glean any new information from Jack's brief questions to Driscoll.
"We got him." Jack's voice was victorious as he began filling Tony in.
"Where are they?" He asked, curious and strangely frustrated that Jack knew everything before he did. Dina's reminder that they only had two hours to locate the override device had him under pressure again.
"In the laundry room." Jack replied before turning back to the men following behind them. "I need two teams to the north wing. Set up a hard perimeter. We're moving to the third floor. I need a baseline and a rappelling harness."
"Copy that." Castle said, getting ready to prep his men.
"Lee," Jack continued, "get me Dina Araz. We're putting her into play."
Tony had to commend Castle for his lack of questions. "Got it." He replied.
Jack continued walking and Tony followed. "Where are we going?" He asked, figuring that they were heading towards an entrance to the laundry room.
Jack confirmed his suspicions. "I'm going to rappel down the laundry chute and take them by surprise." It was not the wildest plan Tony had ever heard come out of Jack's mouth. The odds were even fairly decent in this plan. He nodded, calculating.
"And they aren't going to notice you rappelling down?"
"I'm going to have Dina call Navi and try to distract him. It's the best plan we have." Well, he couldn't argue with that.
4:09:02
Setting up a rappel line in a laundry chute was not something Tony had ever expected to have to do, and therefore was little help in setting it up. Jack however, had a strange air of experience about him as he fixed up cords and set the line in the top of the chute. In fact, it didn't take all too long before everything looked fairly steady.
"All right, are you set?" He questioned even as he turned to see Castle and Dina coming toward them from down the hall. Both of them had very curious looks, as though they had never seen two government agents putting up a rappel line in a laundry chute before. Then again, they probably hadn't.
"Yeah," Jack responded to his question before speaking to Dina, "We think we found them."
"Where?" Her voice betrayed her hope.
"In the basement, in the laundry room. Our satellite picked up two thermal images." Castle's face cleared as he realized there was reason to their madness. Dina was fixated on other things though.
"That means Behrooz is still alive."
"Yes. I'm going to need you to distract your husband."
Tony continued the outlining of their plan. "I'm going to take you down to the basement. In one minute, you are going to call your husband. We're going to need you to keep him on the line as long as possible." It reminded him of setting up a trace. And that was what they were doing really, just the trace was alive, deadly, and named Jack Bauer.
"All right." They had known she would accept. There was something reassuring to a terrorist with such a dramatic weak spot.
"Let's go." Tony ushered her on their way as Jack attached himself to the ropes.
"Okay," Jack said, turning his attention to Castle, "Are you ready?"
"Ready." Castle said, though his voice was off in the distance as Tony brought Dina down to the basement in silence.
"All right." He said, "Come here." They stopped in the middle of the stairs and Tony looked at his watch, calculating the time it would take and how long Dina could keep her husband on the phone. "Okay," he said, "make the call. Now remember, keep him on as long as you can."
He had a sudden flash of misgiving while handing her a cell phone to call from. What if she called and warned her husband? Then he remembered the desperation in her voice when she considered losing her son and handed the phone over.
She typed in a cell number nervously, but with the beginnings of a plan in her eyes. Even knowing how much she cared about her son, Tony had seen the glow of fanaticism in her eyes earlier while talking about terrorism. He leaned over so he could hear both sides of the call.
"Yes?" The voice was cool. If he hadn't known better, Tony would never have guessed it was from a man who was holding his son hostage waiting for five nuclear reactors to melt down.
"It's Dina." Her voice didn't give anything away at least.
Now he sounded more interested. "Where are you?"
"Still in the hospital."
"What have you told them?" He asked, now seeming a little desperate himself. However, for him, it wasn't human loss of life that had him worried but the destruction of their plans.
"Nothing. And I'll keep my mouth shut if you release our son." Tony silently hoped she was just a good liar. She better be, he thought.
"You know I can't do that." He replied.
"Then at least promise me you won't kill him. Navi, please. He's our son." Now Tony was fairly sure she was being genuinely honest in her pleas.
"You turned him against me. Our sacrifice is nothing compared to the martyrs who have given all they have for our cause. No. He can still be of service." That was just terrorist ramblings. Classic and frustrating.
"Is he still alive?" Now she was just fishing for straws to keep him on the line and distracted.
"Yes. And he'll remain alive as long as you remain silent. How am I to do this alone? We planned this mission together, we fought it out as if of one mind. You betrayed me. Don't tell me that! Your conspiracy with him is over. I won't allow you to continue it right in front of me. The boy is all I have. The only thing that keeps them from storming through that door. Of course it's true. But in the end … in the end you'll find that the martyrs … and you will suffer even worse than them. You're going to have to live knowing that everyone important in your life to is dead – your son, your brother. Yes, I killed your brother too."
Suddenly the monologue was cut off. Distantly they heard Navi say, "Don't move." As though to someone else in the room. Tony just hoped it wasn't Jack. Then their connection was cut off as Navi hung up. Dina stared at the phone in shock. Tony figured it wasn't the best way to hear about your brother's death, but they didn't have time for it right now.
Tony left her with another agent, he didn't check who it was, and ran down the stairs to get more information on the situation. Maybe he could even help out. While on his way down the stairs, Tony pulled out his radio and sent out to all the other agents, "Hostile's engaged. I repeat, hostile's engaged."
He kept running until he reached the laundry room and barged in, gun drawn, to find a dead man and a boy pointing a gun at Jack. Presumably the dead one was Navi and the boy Behrooz. "Drop the gun!" Tony yelled, disliking having a gun pointed at one of his only friends. "Drop the gun!"
"Put the gun down." Jack said, much more calmly and persuasively. Having two guns pointed at him seemed to be enough urging for the kid and he placed the gun on a table, looking shell-shocked.
"Hands on your head." Tony ordered. "Turn around."
Jack checked the dead man for a pulse uselessly. All he got from his efforts was a classic "Damn it," which was enough proof for Tony that the man was dead. Dina had better have some good information because right now she was their only lead.
"Behrooz are you alright?" Dina's voice came ringing into the room. Tony turned to see Castle and the agent he had left Dina with. So much for staying with her.
"I killed him," the boy shook with disbelief. "I did it. I killed father." That made more sense. Jack wasn't about to kill one of their few leads.
"Your son is safe. He's alive. We did what you asked. Now, where is the override device?" Jack said, working up their last lead.
"I don't know that, but I can give you an address where much of the work behind today's attack was done." Tony could feel a 'damn it' of his own coming on. What did the woman think they had been bargaining that pardon for? Just a planning spot? Well, they would take what they could get.
Jack echoed his sentiments. "That's not the deal we made!"
"That's all I know. I can only tell you what I know."
They didn't have time to argue and Jack knew it. "What's the address?" He asked urgently.
"24878 Alvord Street."
"What's there?" Tony took up asking questions as he kept his gun to Behrooz's neck.
"It was a drop-off. The place we used to get our final assignments. It was the last place we saw the men who were going to take possession of the override." That sounded vaguely promising. More promising than nothing at least.
"When was that?" Jack interrogated.
"Yesterday." Good, this was without doubt the best chance they had.
"Send in an advance team. Tell them to set up a hard perimeter. No on goes in there until we get there." Jack directed Castle. Tony felt a touch of pride at being one of those elite few who the advance team had to wait for.
Castle's reply was automatic as he walked off to take care of it. "You got it."
"What about these two?" Tony asked, gesturing to the gun he still had pointed at Behrooz.
"Until we know she's not lying, they come with us." Jack instructed. Tony led Behrooz with his gun and Dina followed, looking lost.
4:23:57
The drive seemed quicker than it really was. Before they knew it, they were greeted at the address by perimeter teams. They parked the car and ran up to crouch behind a van with an agent from the perimeter team. He introduced himself to Jack. "Agent Bauer, Agent Solars."
Jack hurriedly introduced the man to Tony, "Agent Almeida. You set your perimeter yet?" It took Tony a moment to realize that Jack had just called him Agent Almeida. He didn't move to correct it, but wondered whether Jack had done it just to avoid questions or because he had honestly forgotten Tony wasn't a CTU agent anymore.
"Anything within four blocks isn't going anywhere." Solars said confidently.
"Any activity?" Tony asked.
The man shrugged, "Not that we've seen." Which meant that there still might be people on the inside.
"OK, I want to keep this as surgical as possible. You, me, and Almeida will be leading the searching team. Remember, maintain backup. Are you ready?" Jack certainly was.
"Yeah," Tony said, checking his gun and unhooking the safety.
"Go." Jack commanded.
They ran forward, around the car and on until they reached the building at the address Dina had given them. Jack went on one side of the door with Tony on the other as they opened it as quickly as they could.
And into an empty room. Their guns were still out, but drooped as they realized there was no need for them. "We're clear." Jack yelled to the back up teams.
Solars walked in with a flashlight and they all walked around examining the wooden room that was covered in dust and looked abandoned. Tony went for the simplest explanation, though it wasn't one Jack wanted to hear. "Dina must have been lying."
"I don't think so." Jack said, "She wants to save her son." That made sense to Tony, he had seen her desperation just as Jack had, but it didn't change the fact that there was nothing in this empty, boarded up shack.
"Well, they must have cleared the place out." He decided.
Jack looked furious at having another dead end lead. "Bring in a forensics team now. I want this place torn apart for fingerprints." They both knew that by the time forensics found anything it might be too late.
"Yes, sir." Solars said, obediently leaving to give instructions to the back up.
Jack squatted down as Tony kept looking on the walls for anything at all to go on. All he could find though was rotten wood. Suddenly Jack said, "Tony."
"What is it?" He moved over to see what Jack was looking at. He was pointing his flashlight at a power cord hooked up to an outlet and leading into the floor. They walked toward it, Tony trying not to get his hopes up as Jack bent down and easily removed a board from the floor.
They released a breath in unison. So there really could be something to follow up on here after all. Tony knelt to help Jack remove the boards until they had revealed something that looked like a trapdoor. Jack pulled lightly on the rope that allowed it to be moved before placing his flashlight in his mouth and preparing to pull with both hands. Tony stood up again and aimed his gun at the opening. "Go." He said.
Jack pulled the door up and shone the flashlight into the hole only to reveal a ladder leading down to a dirt floor. Maneuvering himself onto the ladder, Jack climbed down with Tony providing light from the top. When he got to the bottom, he looked around with flashlight in hand before calling, "clear," to Tony back on top.
It didn't take long for him to locate the place where the power cord went to and fix a few plugs so that the room was illuminated by the light bulbs in the ceiling. Tony climbed down the ladder to see for himself. It wasn't a big room, sloping down on one side like a bunker and had the other three walls covered in plans and photos.
Jack pointed one out. "It's the train from the attack this morning."
Tony nodded, remembering watching something about that on the news. "So that's how they got the override." He recalled seeing something about that in the story too and was rewarded for the memory by Jack's nod.
He kept scanning the walls until he noticed Jack had stopped moving. "Jack?" He asked, before coming over to see what had caught his attention. He was looking at a picture of Audrey and Secretary Heller at some formal event with security in the background. In fact, Jack was in the background. "They planned the kidnapping here." Tony said, unnecessarily.
"Yeah." Jack responded, grimly.
4:36:24
Not many people got to see Jack Bauer shaken, or didn't realize what they were seeing at least, but Tony seemed to be one of the few who had seen it and recognized it. Jack had walked around the basement several times, identifying places and plans from the day's events so far, trying to keep his mind off the kidnapping.
Tony gave him some space and didn't try to listen in when he called someone back at District, he supposed. It wasn't until he got off the call that Jack turned to speak with Tony again.
"Tony, I need to talk to you." Tony could tell by Jack's less than anxious manner that he did not want to be part of that conversation. Luckily, Jack's cell phone chose to ring right then. "I'm sorry, just give me a minute." He said, walking to the other side of the room to take the call.
What could Jack want to talk about that they hadn't yet? Nothing good, he was sure. Probably something from their past, seeing as Jack didn't truly want to discuss it. Would he try to talk about Michelle again? Or was this just going to be about whether he would help out with something else? Either way, Tony decided it was better for him to leave and help out the perimeter teams while he still could. Jack shot him a look as he climbed back up the ladder, but he ignored it.
What followed was a series of directed loitering, like most agents were doing on top. They seemed curious about what had been found, but Tony only told Solars, the leader of the perimeter teams. Unfortunately, Jack didn't take too long down in the hidden room before he came back up to instruct the back up.
Of course, Jack found him even though he was outside and trying to avoid the field agent. "Hey." Jack said, not noticing that Tony seemed reluctant to have this conversation.
"Hey." Tony replied.
"I need to follow up on a lead of my own." Jack started without preamble. This wasn't sounding good and Tony was about to start formulating a request to stay with the perimeter teams or something just so he wouldn't have to leave the life of a government agent again when Jack caught him by surprise. "I need you to do me a favor. I need you to take Dina Araz and her son back to CTU and head up the interrogation."
His plans staggered to a halt and his mind caught on the words "back to CTU." His first reaction was outright refusal, then a nostalgic longing.
"Wait a second Jack." He said, still reeling, "They'd never let me set foot in CTU, even if I wanted to." Whether he wanted to or not … which was certainly a question right now.
"Just listen to me. You're the only one I can trust to do this. Over the last two hours I watched my friend come back to life." He couldn't argue with that. Over the last two hours, Tony had watched himself come back to life. There was something about this that had no substitute.
Still. It hurt so much. The wounds from the day of the virus had never truly healed and now they bled as though fresh. "It's not that simple, Jack." He said, tortured.
"If I press hard enough, I can get you reinstated. But I need to know now: is that what you want?"
The question hit hard. What would it be like to be back at CTU? His first thought was, perfection again. But then the second, unstated part of the question hit. What would it be like to be back at CTU without Michelle Dessler? Could it possibly be worse than what he was going through now? "I don't know." He replied honestly.
Jack looked sympathetic for a moment and lost some of his urgency as he looked down at his feet. "Maybe I was wrong." And he turned his back to Tony and began to walk away.
Did he have the strength to take him up on his offer? To go back to CTU, even knowing that he would be just as alone as he was now. Even more aware of his loss, in fact. Knowing that things could be perfect again if he had Michelle back. How much more torn apart could his life become?
Just then, Jack turned around. "You saved the life of the daughter of the Secretary of Defense, who just happens to be my boss. You do know that, right?"
He was proving that it was a definite possibility that he could get him reinstated, but indecision still reigned supreme. Jack turned his back to him again and walked away.
Tony was reminded harshly of the way Michelle had walked away that last time. The way he had spent so long afterward wondering if it would have made a difference if he had gone after her and, worse, knowing it would have. With that, he realized something he hadn't until after the fact last time. He would regret letting Jack leave.
"Jack," he called out. Jack turned around, "Thanks," he continued, more quietly, his voice breaking ever so slightly. "I'll do it."
It was fleeting and barely there, but Tony saw the rare occurrence that was Jack Bauer smiling. "Lee," Jack said to Castle, who happened to be nearby, "Agent Almeida will be driving your car."
The buoyant sensation Tony felt when he heard Jack refer to him as Agent Almeida was enough to convince himself that he had made the right choice.
4:41:00
Getting out of the car had been the first thing that felt strange. He remembered acutely getting into a police car and driving away to federal prison, thinking that he would never set foot in CTU again, and here he was as though it was an ordinary day prior to his arrest.
Coming in the door was the next thing he had never expected to do again. He was stopped by security, which was a relief actually. He felt too much like he was falling into a memory, but in other times, all the guards knew him well enough to let him by without pausing for breath.
"I'm Tony Almeida, I'm supposed to be …" The guard cut him off.
"Yeah, we heard. Just put your thumb here and …" Tony placed his thumb on the pad and pressed a button beside it to start the fingerprint scan. He had done this enough years that he probably knew the security measures better than the guard did. The man looked down at his screen, up at Tony and then ushered him through.
Tony spent a moment wondering what the man had been looking at. His old CTU ID? He couldn't imagine what else would be brought up by a finger scan. It was enough to send him back to that sense of déjà vu.
Two more security guards met him as he began the familiar walk down CTU's back halls to the main area. They walked beside him in silence as he categorized the other halls they passed. Situation room, forensics, medical, IT … they all seemed to crash in on him. He refused to let it show on his face though.
The only outer emotion he allowed to seep through was when they passed the dark hall where Michelle had kissed him for the first time all those years ago. A wince crossed his face as he became intensely aware of her absence. In his wildest dreams while in prison, when he had pictured returning to CTU, it was always with Michelle at his side.
He shook it off as they reached their destination and he realized that Behrooz and Dina were right behind him with their own entourage of security guards. He distracted himself by checking up on them, but couldn't stop the initial look. To the director's office, to Jack's office, to Michelle's desk which he knew nearly as well as his own.
It was only the lack of familiar faces that dissuaded him: no Adam, Chloe, Chase, Kim … Michelle. It was enough to allow him to turn his attention to the woman approaching him. "Mr. Almeida." She stated.
"That's right." Tony replied, though it wasn't a question.
"Erin Driscoll, Director of CTU." He had guessed, but hearing someone else's name with the title 'Director of CTU' after it still stung.
"How are you?" He mumbled as he turned to gesture to Dina and Behrooz. "This is Mrs. Araz and her son Behrooz. Mrs. Araz is in need of medical attention right away."
Driscoll spoke to the guard beside Tony, "Have them taken care of, then prepare them for interrogation."
Dina seemed worried, but it wasn't the same desperate sound Tony had heard from her earlier when her son was being threatened. "We've told you everything we know."
"We'll see." Driscoll said, lacking interest.
The guard ushered them away, and Tony watched them head in the direction of the holding rooms. Driscoll drew his attention back to her by handing him a badge and gun.
He stared at the two items she held. They were a physical representation of becoming a CTU agent again and he wasn't sure he was ready for that yet. "Ms. Driscoll," he began, forcing the words out of his mouth. "I'm sure you're aware of my history here."
"Not an issue." She spoke briskly. "Jack Bauer and Secretary Heller both vouched for you. That's enough for me." He nodded and took the badge and gun with the excitement of a child.
"All right, thank you." She began walking away when he said, "Jack thought it'd be a good idea if I headed up the interrogation." And I'm the only person he trusts to do it. He continued mentally, hoping he wasn't overstepping his boundaries. Driscoll was stretching just allowing a traitor a temporary post at her agency.
"That makes sense." She replied, generously. "You've had a chance to observe them first hand. If there's anything you need, let me know."
He released a breath and began walking over to the holding rooms as Driscoll walked toward one of the women at a desk. He watched and assisted as they set up for interrogation. Finally, Tony found himself alone, watching Dina from behind the two-way mirror with nothing to distract him.
The memories came on then. It was this exact holding room that he had been held in with Michelle years ago when they were arrested for assisting Jack and drugging Ryan Chappelle. This same room where he had spent so long with Jack interrogating someone while he and maybe Chase or Michelle or some other person from back then waited with him for results in this room.
He didn't cry, but the emotion crested and he sat down in a chair, feeling incredibly alone.
5:00:00
A/N: Aw! I love that scene where Jack asks Tony to come back to CTU! You should go grab the DVD and watch it real fast, it is so good! Anyway, reviews are my only payment, so I would love some! It would make me write faster anyway ... :-). Now go watch some fireworks and celebrate America's birth. :-)
Important! If you don't normally read author's notes, read this one! I need some input on whether or not I should delve into Michelle's point of view when she comes into the story. Should I just stick to Tony, or put in some of Michelle too? If I don't put in her POV, I might write a sidestory with her view of some of the major events or I might not ...your opinion either way is welcomed.