11:00:00

Jack only hesitated for a moment after ending the call. He pushed the transfer button connecting him to one of the many interns below.

"Ms.Fetters?"

"Yes, Director Bauer?"

"I need you to run a full background check on a David Emerson."

"Yes, sir."

Jack stared out of his office, a million thoughts scattered in his brain. The main thought being that he should be out there doing something to help the situation, not sitting here behind a desk in an office. He couldn't help but think he should have been more supportive of Chloe leaving CTU, helping her find a better job than where she had ended up. She had always been there for him in her awkward way. The following year she had even sent him a Christmas card.

The intercom came to life after what seemed like hours.

"Director Bauer? I have that background check you wanted. There's also a security issue I think you should be alerted to."

"What is it?"

"It seems someone is attempting to hack into Paragon's security system."

"Can it be tracked?"

"I'm not sure… I'm going to need a few minutes but I think I can pinpoint the source and block their access."

"Do the best you can, keep me updated."

Jack ended the call.


11:16 AM

David looked around with disgust while Chloe worked at the small computer. They had left Chloe's car in a gas station parking lot and walked to a nearby apartment complex. A friend of Chloe's who had supplied her with high-end technology lived there. At the moment the friend was on a house call. David dusted off the screen as Chloe worked.

"Are you sure this access point is secure?"

"Look, this is the only place I could think of okay? If you don't really want me to help you just say so."

David gave Chloe a stern glare. As much as he hated to admit it, he needed her to get the information without suspicion from CTU.

"I'm sorry, Chloe. I just don't want them to find us here."

"I've got a schematic of Paragon's main complex and some entry codes. There should be some security access points. I should be able to hack into them and then I'll be able to manipulate them from any remote location. Once I get through those I should be able to retrieve all the files on Begich's financial dealings within Paragon as well as all of his own personal files. It'll just take me a few more minutes."

"I don't know if this is going to work; getting the evidence from Paragon to clear my name is all well and good but it's still a matter of who we're going to take it to. The CIA is compromised and they could have someone on the inside at CTU too. There's no telling how far up this goes."

"I have people I trust," she stated, thinking of one in particular.

He watched her leave that thought unspoken then murmured, "Okay. I wanted to thank you, Chloe. You really don't know how much this means to me."

Chloe looked away. She wondered if CTU had detected her presence yet. Probably not, considering the new interns there when she left. She had half considered staying only because most of them looked as if they had never heard of encrypting data much less maintaining security scripts for restricted access to networking systems.

There was a jingle of keys before the door came open.

"What the… Chloe? Is that you? How the hell did you get in here?"

Chloe looked at her friend and then at David who had quickly stepped out of sight at the sound of the door opening.

"Hey, Vik… I remembered where you kept your spare key. I just needed to do a few things for a friend… you don't mind do you?"

Vik closed the door and sat down on his old beat up sofa.

"Hey, no problem. I'm glad you came by. It's been awhile. Don't tell me you're still at that crap job, what was it again? Initech?"

Chloe gave a nervous laugh. She was debating on when to announce David's presence when he stepped out of the shadows. Viktor jumped with the sudden addition of an ominous stranger in his home.

"Whoa, man! Who the fuck are you?"

David ignored Vik and stood by Chloe, obscuring Vik's view of the screen.

"How are you doing on those security points?"

"I've almost got it. Wait... It looks like they've discovered my trail. I'll have to find another way in to get the rest."

"Wait a second…," Vik trailed. "What exactly are you doing? I can't get busted again. If it's something illegal you're gonna have to-"

One swift motion and David's gun was squarely in Vik's face cocked and ready to fire.

"Shut up, Vik."

Chloe stopped what she was doing and stared wide-eyed at David.

"Keep working, Chloe… We don't have a lot of time."


11:42 AM

Jack scanned David Emerson's profile. There was nothing out of the ordinary. David had attended Davis with Chloe, complete with the same degree, a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science. They had married soon after and both had been recruited to the CIA in D.C. About a year later they had divorced and Chloe had been hired by CTU in L.A. That's when they had lost track of Emerson's whereabouts after he had taken an undercover mission to investigate a weapon's facility called Paragon.

"Director Bauer?"

"Yes, what have you got?"

"I have a location on the origin of the security breach. It seems to be coming from an apartment complex near Brentwood from a residence registered to a Mr. Viktor Scheuster. He's been arrested a few times before for hacking into government files."

"Good work. What information is Scheuster attempting to access?"

"Mainly information about Paragon's financial records. When he entered Paragon's system it tripped off a security alert that notified our systems as well. It looks like he managed to retrieve some data on schematics and a few access codes before I could stop the feed."

"Thank you, Ms.Fetters. I'll have Curtis check into it."

Jack knew this was the lead he had been looking for. Viktor had to be working for Emerson. A thorough interrogation would get them information they needed about the location of Emerson and what he was trying to achieve.

Until then, he would have to wait. There was nothing more he could do.


11:52 AM

"I've almost got it."

Chloe nervously tapped at the keyboard, retrieving as much data as she possibly could before her alternate route was blocked.

There was a knock at the door and then a yell.

"Viktor Scheuster! This is the Los Angeles CTU! Open up right now!"

David backed away from Viktor, gun still aimed between his eyes.

"Chloe, what is CTU doing here!"

"I don't know, I guess they must have tracked my IP somehow… I thought your system was secure Viktor. You should really work on upgrading the security masking codes and encryption files on your system, I think they're out of date."

Another yell broke the momentary silence.

"Mr.Scheuster, we know you're in there!"

David grabbed Chloe's arm pulling her abruptly from the desk.

"We've got to go out the back. Viktor, answer the door."

"No way. I'm going with you."

"No... you're not."

Before he could argue, David fired two rounds behind Viktor at the front door and shoved Chloe through the open sliding glass door taking cover and following immediately behind her.

The door flew open and the two agents returned fire at the suspect.

Viktor raised his hands in the air as bullets riddled his body, knocking him back. He fell over the sofa and to the ground with a heavy thud.

12:00:00