One week later…
São Paulo, Brazil
As it had been every day since their arrival, the city was hot and sunny. They both wore sunglasses to protect their eyes and to provide some disguise.
Nina muttered to herself as they walked down Rua Aurora towards the Castelar hotel. This was to be where they would meet this mysterious person she had mentioned back in the States. She had said little about them, and Alex had noticed her anxiety about the meeting.
Once inside and out of the relentless heat, they made their way to the room. As Nina knocked on the door, Alex could only wonder who this person was. Moments later, a young woman opened the door. She had long black hair, bright blue eyes and pale skin.
"Nina, always good to see you! Alex, nice to meet you, I'm Mandy," she spoke with an American accent. As they walked into the room, Alex noticed Nina had relaxed a little.
Kim and Chase's house, Valencia, USA
In Valencia, the sun was rising and most people were waking up to start their day. Kim was not most people and had hardly slept. This had been the pattern for the last week and even if she did get sleep, she would dream only of Alex and Nina. She would hear their voices and laughter. Their faces grinning at her. She would relive both the night of Nina's escape as well as the night of her mother's murder. Her friends had begged her to see someone about the dreams, but she had refused to even consider it. To her, it would only be a matter of time before something else dragged her straight back into the darkness.
She was standing in the bathroom, looking at her reflection in the mirror. Her tired eyes with bags underneath, her uncombed hair and she looked ten years older than she was. Tears began to fall as she wondered how she was going to cope with this latest betrayal.
"Kim, I love you but you need help," Chase spoke as he entered the room and wrapped his arms around her. His hand still hurt like hell, but he ignored the pain as he tried to lessen hers.
"It keeps happening," Kim whispered and all Chase could do was hug her a little tighter.
Hotel Castelar, São Paulo, Brazil
Mandy sat on the edge of her bed whilst Alex and Nina sat on two nearby chairs. They had made small talk for a while, and Alex could tell that they knew something he didn't. Nina cleared her throat before looking straight at him.
"Alex, we have some news for you," she spoke and Alex wondered if it was going to be good or bad. He couldn't tell from her voice.
"What is it?" He asked without committing to any particular emotion.
"You remember when we were little? Mom and Dad went away to New York for a year once," Nina replied and Alex nodded. He knew of the trip but remembered very little of it. After all, he had only been about four at the time.
"Well, they were visiting a couple, Penny and George Stapleton, who couldn't have their own kids. So because the Stapletons paid well, Mom and Dad agreed to have a baby for them to adopt. That baby was Mandy," Nina continued, and Alex could only stare at her before looking over at Mandy.
"She's our sister?" He spoke. One of the reasons he had still loved his sister was because she had been his only family. Now his living relatives had doubled in number.
"I'm a terrorist, Alex. I guess it's the family business now," Mandy spoke before grinning. He was a little disappointed at this news but tried not to show it.
Once the meeting was over, Alex and Nina had left the hotel and headed straight for their rental car. He was trying to come to terms with the news. Not only did he have another sister, but she was as dangerous and deadly as the one he grew up with. He wondered if it was something in the gene pool that he had not inherited himself.
Climbing into the car and setting off, there were a few minutes of silence before Nina's phone rang. The call was quiet on her end, but Alex could tell that she was being told something rather interesting.
"I can't believe it, but it's true," Nina spoke with a surprised look on her face.
"What is?" Alex asked. The tone of her voice suggested that she wasn't worried about what she had heard.
"Tony is being charged with treason," Nina replied. Everything she knew about Tony Almeida suggested that he was patriotic and moral. For him to betray his country he must have felt there was no other choice.
"Treason? What happened?" Alex asked, knowing that he had so far gotten away with treason himself. He wondered if he would ever face the consequences of that action.
"They didn't give me much. His wife was being held hostage and he disobeyed CTU orders to save her," Nina replied. She had no clue who his wife was, even if she had taken delight in taunting him about her. Of course, if Tony was anything like Jack, she knew that he would do whatever it took to protect his family.
"As for us, my boss is in town and would like to meet you. We're heading there now," Nina continued.
Alex's thoughts turned to the virus. Was he actually okay with the idea of working for this man? Someone who wanted to buy a biological weapon that could decimate whole towns and cities? He knew he now had little choice unless he wanted to spend the rest of his life in prison. He had the urge to ask Nina what her boss had planned to use the virus for but decided against it. Not only would she likely not have any idea of his targets but it might raise suspicions against him once more.
Kim and Chase's house, Valencia, USA
Chase was sat on the couch, staring at his reattached hand. Although the operation had been a success, he would have little use of it for some months. The pain was excruciating at times no matter what he did to try and control it. The cauterised bullet wound on his palm often stung too, another painful reminder of that day. Reaching for his beer, he sighed before taking a big swig from the bottle. Despite it being early in the day, he had begun to see alcohol as a way of blocking out both the physical and mental pain. He didn't notice Kim until she sat down beside him.
"I wish you wouldn't start so early," she spoke with her eyes on the beer bottle. She remembered how her dad had been after her mother's murder. He would often be drunk well before midday most days of the week. Sometimes she would tell that he hadn't started drinking in the morning. He was still drinking from the night before.
"It helps with the pain, but I can try and keep it until after lunch," Chase replied. He had said a variation of the sentence for the past few days. Kim sighed before kissing his cheek and leaving him alone with his beer.
Kim went to Angela's room where she watched the baby sleep for a few moments. Whilst she was more than happy to have the little girl in her life, she had concerns. Neither she nor Chase was in a place where they could give Angela the full love and attention she deserved. Yet there were few other options available to them, which meant that they were stuck.
"Things are going to get better," she whispered, more to herself than to Angela.
Base of Nina's boss, São Paulo
Alex was deep in thought as he waited outside of the office. Nina was in a meeting with her boss. Soon, he would be meeting him too. She had assured him that they wouldn't believe him to be undercover. Still, he felt that both of them were taking a big risk. Nina's risk was due to her failure in acquiring the virus. His risk was due to the possibility of her boss not wanting him around.
He looked around at what appeared to be some sort of repurposed office building. Nina had told him that it was a temporary base her employers often used. Her boss rarely spent more than a week at a base before he would leave for another. He wondered if there was a connection between Mandy and Nina's boss or if it was only a coincidence. Both of them in the same Brazilian city on the same day? He decided that it didn't matter.
"The boss will see you now," a short dark-haired man with a Russian accent spoke as he poked his head out of the door. Nina then appeared and smiled at him before he stood up and made his way to the office.
"Remember, calm and respectful. Be honest, he hates sycophants," Nina advised him as they passed. They had discussed this meeting in detail on the way there. Now, she could only hope that things weren't about to go wrong.
Entering the office, Alex couldn't fail to notice the armed men stationed around the room. On the other side of it, was a large oak desk. Sat at the desk was a middle-aged white man with grey hair and hazel eyes.
"Ah, you must be Alex. Come and take a seat," the man spoke with a German accent. As he sat down, he remembered Nina's advice.
"So, Nina has told me all about the escape," the man continued, and Alex nodded.
"I hadn't planned on helping her escape. If anything, moments before I was contemplating having to shoot her," Alex replied. The man grinned at this.
"Well, you made the right choice. My name is Victor Schulze, your new boss," Victor spoke. Alex realised that he had passed the first hurdle, but he had no clue how many more there were in front of him. Victor held out his hand and Alex shook it.
"Nina will be our intermediary of course," Victor continued. Alex wasn't surprised at this, she had told him in the car that he wouldn't have to meet with the boss very often. She would handle any business they had with him, and Alex was more than happy to let her. Not only did she had more experience, but she had a much better way with words than he did.
"Now, Alex, I would like an honest answer. How far are you willing to go?" Victor asked. Alex contemplated the question. Committing treason by helping Nina escape was one thing, but could he kill for his new boss? He had killed for CTU before, but it was always justified. Killing a terrorist in a tense situation was very different to cold-blooded murder.
Victor watched with interest as Alex considered his answer. He had been glad not to hear some immediate assertion of total loyalty to him. That never sounded anything other than fake to him.
"I'm not sure I could kill for you or anyone," Alex replied after a few more moments of contemplation. He was being honest and didn't want to spout some convoluted answer full of conditions. Yes, he would find it easier to kill a terrorist than an innocent, but he would have his reservations even then. Victor grinned at the response.
"Well, I don't need you to kill anyone. I'm sure Nina can handle that side of things if the need arises," he spoke, and Alex decided not to hide his relief. Victor noticed and smiled, before standing up.
"It has been a pleasure to meet you, Alex, I wish you good luck," he replied as Alex stood up as well.
Moments later, Alex and Nina were walking out of the base and back to their car. Alex was glad to have made a good first impression on Victor, whilst Nina felt relief for two reasons. Her boss had not blamed her for the failure in Mexico and in fact, he had been able to retrieve his funds. The second reason was that her boss had liked her brother and was more than happy to have a new employee. Especially one who was honest with him. Nina had always liked that about Victor, that he valued honesty and authenticity. She had worked for a few who did not, who preferred their employees to treat them almost like royalty. Often, those bosses didn't last long in the business.
"Things are going well so far, it seems," Nina spoke as they got back into their car. The failure in Mexico was having little negative impact on her and she was grateful for that. All night it had felt like she was inching towards either prison or death, until the moment of the escape.
"What's our next destination?" Alex asked.
"Germany," Nina replied before smiling. With no instructions from Schulze, she had decided they would visit a country she loved. She had first visited as a college student, and a few years later it was also where she had met her first employer. They had instructed her to go to Germany after the failure with the Drazens, but CTU had caught her. She would have stayed in Frankfurt until moving on a few days later. Instead, she spent eighteen months in prison before the pardon.
Metropolitan Detention Center, Los Angeles
Tony was finding it hard to come to terms with his current reality, but he was trying. Charged with treason for doing what he did to save his wife, he knew it could be some months before the trial. As he walked around the exercise yard, he was very much aware of everything and everyone around him. His training as a CTU agent was very much an advantage in this place. Being a former federal agent was less so.
The detention centre was in the middle of downtown LA, and he could hear life going on outside the walls. He appreciated the noise as it allowed him to stay connected with the outside. The possibility of spending years behind bars was not something he wanted to dwell on.
Thoughts of both Alex and Nina had floated through his mind almost every day since his arrest. The former, a traitor whose actions were sure to cause actual harm. The latter, a dangerous terrorist who would likely be haunting CTU at some point in the future. Every time these thoughts arose, he would drown them out by thinking of Michelle. He knew that he could never lose hope with the promise of reuniting with her one day.
