12:00:00

"What were you able to access from Paragon?" David asked as he sped through traffic to merge onto the freeway.

"Not much," she admitted. "Look, David, if you just go into CTU I know someone who can help you. You can trust him."

"Were you just there five minutes ago? CTU is gunning for us!" he snapped. She fell silent, struggling for a logical explanation to CTU's aggressive action. "And it's not just me now, Chloe. They know you're with me and they've probably figured out that I've confided in you; whoever is after me will try to eliminate you too."

She stared at the dashboard firmly as he continued. "We just need that evidence from Paragon if we want to get out of this. It's the only thing that can clear us now."

"I could only get through the first layer of security with the time I had," she replied. "There should only be one more layer; that's the one most likely to contain his personal, confidential data. I just need more time to get in."

"Then we'll find somewhere more secure," he murmured. "Your friend's house just won't cut it."

"I didn't know where else to go," she defended.

"I know a place," David said succinctly. After a moment of silence, he glanced over at her and the worry the clearly preoccupied her mind. "Hey. We'll be all right."

Chloe wasn't sure she believed him.


12:07 PM

Jack descended the stairs from his office as Curtis approached, briskly. "Jack. The team intercepted the suspect-"

"Emerson?"

"Schuester. Shots were fired before they could enter and they returned fire. He was killed but the team leader found no gun on him."

"Damnit," Jack muttered. "What about Emerson and Chloe? Did they find anything in the apartment?"

"It looks like it was the terminal being used to hack into Paragon but the team hasn't found any evidence that it was Schuester himself behind it," Curtis explained. "Jack, Schuester was a friend of Chloe's. I don't think he was Emerson's contact."

Jack hesitated in thought – that it was Chloe orchestrating the illegal activities they were tracking – then he dismissed it just as quickly.

"What else?" he continued.

"Jack, our people were able to identify a personal marker of Chloe's on the trail she left going into Paragon. It was her breaking into their mainframe," Curtis insisted.

"Then she had a legitimate reason or she's being coerced; who knows," Jack snapped, tersely. "Until we find her and Emerson, we don't know."

Curtis watched with trepidation as Jack departed.


12:25 PM

Chloe inspected the run down warehouse as their car pulled near. "Where are we?"

David shifted the car into park, responding, "It's one of my emergency spots; I try not to use it often."

"Emergency spot for what?" she asked, taking in the dank isolation of the building.

"For situations like this," he replied, simply.

They entered the warehouse and she followed him to an office that stood surprisingly cleaner than the remaining dusty lot. From a metal cabinet, he began moving various hardware to the desk.

"It will just take a minute to set up," he informed her as she crossed her arms to busy them.

"Good," she stated quickly. "Then we can just get the data and take it into CTU."

David slowed while assembling the hardware and met Chloe's eyes steadily. "We can get the data, but I can't go into CTU. I'll send it in anonymously or something but I'm not going to risk going into any of those places again."

"What are you talking about?" she said, her tone rising with irritation.

"Chloe, they tried to kill me! They're trying to kill you!"

"CTU isn't trying to kill you! They're just trying to bring you in right now because they've got the wrong idea. Once you take this evidence to them, you'll be free."

"Free from CTU and the CIA, yes. But not from the people that are behind all of this: Begich has friends who are going to be just as aversely affected by me turning him in. This won't stop them from coming after me."

"So what's your plan? Run forever?" she sarcastically remarked.

"I have to disappear, Chloe. I'm a danger to anyone I'm around now and I already regret bringing you into this." She watched the sincerity in his gaze and let her own fall away, not comfortable with the private moment. He righted himself from the look as well and quietly murmured, "Let me just finish putting this together."


12:32 PM

Carl peeked curiously in the backdoor, calling out his neighbor's name while edging in. "I thought we were going to play cards this morning," he announced as an explanation for his arrival. "You didn't forget."

She never forgot. Though the eternally calm house answered him, he ventured in, calling her name again. "I bought muffins at that bakery you like."

His steps grew bolder as the empty kitchen, dining and drawing room increased his unease. "Helen," he called with greater urgency until he slowed to a stop within the foyer. From there he could see her body lying on the ground, her leg twisted awkwardly aside and her arm extended haphazardly.

With an irresistible, morbid fascination – the same kind that turned people's heads at car wrecks – he edged forward to view the whole of her corpse, discovering the caverns in her forehead. He breathed finally, "Helen?"


12:35 PM

"So why did you quit CTU?" David asked as he began powering up. "We didn't really keep in touch after the divorce and all."

She glanced up under a hooded brow at the mention of their ill-fated marriage but answered anyway. "I got tired of almost dying."

David's eyes remained on the hardware he was piecing together but they widened slightly in a gentle 'whoops' expression. "I guess I kind of ruined your day, huh?"

"Pretty much," she remarked. He watched her as she continued to avoid his eyes and he went on with a tiny smirk.

"You know, despite what you say, Chloe, you were always exceptional at what you did. And you handled the pressure. I honestly think you thrived on it."

"Well, I guess I didn't because I quit," she snapped.

"So how have things been going since you quit?" he inquired with a tone that suggested he already knew the answer. She answered him with a glare and he sighed. "That was our problem, Chloe. You never opened up to me, no matter how many years we were together."

"Oh yeah? I thought our problem was you sleeping with other women."

David stayed silent and kept his eyes directly on his hands. He intoned lightly, "Yeah, it was." Chloe stared at the desk, trying to suppress her old feelings of anger. "I don't even know who I was back then," he noted. "But it's a waste of time to tell you I'm sorry again, even after all this time."

"Yeah, it is," she retorted, almost unable to stop herself from the barb. He merely glanced at her in agreement and she quieted.

After a lengthy pause, he began calmly. "Look, I don't know what I'm going to do, exactly, but I know I'm getting out of the States." He met her eyes soundly. "Just for a little while, at least."

When she did not verbally respond, he dared to go on. "You could come with me."

"What?" she snapped.

"Could keep me company," he jested yet at the sight of her serious expression, he dropped the levity. "Just to be safe."

Chloe watched his eyes fall away from hers almost as though afraid of rejection and she quieted, awkwardly.

"Anyway," he murmured. "Something to think about. I've got to grab a piece of hardware in the storage room. I'll be right back."


12:44 PM

"What have you got?" Jack asked as he approached the monitors Curtis stood at.

"We've scanned the traffic cameras in a five block area around Schuester's house and came up with this." Curtis magnified the windshield of a dark car that started to pass through a green light. He froze the screen then increased the resolution for a clearer picture. The dark but distinct contours of David Emerson's face appeared behind the wheel.

"From this angle we can't make out this person in the car with him," Curtis murmured, "But we can track the car to the next traffic cam for a better shot."

The computer jumped to the next camera feed and fast forwarded until the same dark car pulled forward. When he cleared the image again, this time the passenger was unmistakable.

Jack's face fell slightly and he murmured in confusion, "Chloe."


12:49 PM

She riffled through her pocket nervously and realized, suddenly, her cell phone was settled at the bottom. She withdrew it promptly and turned on the device, remembering she had shut it off at the coffee shop for more privacy. Yet as she stood in the quiet, private moment with a means to connect with the outside world, she hesitated. What if they already had her phone tapped?

The shuffling of footsteps alerted her of David's approach and she shoved the phone back into her pocket.

"This should be it," he announced, holding up the hardware. He slowed, however, and Chloe immediately noticed the sound of a car stopping outside as well. She looked to him for direction and he tossed the hardware down, grabbing her hand. "Come on!"

The men appeared instantly at the doors and began firing as David pulled her further into the warehouse. He crouched behind a heavy desk, instructing her, "Stay here."

"What!" she yelled between the deafening gun fire. He turned and ran from her hiding spot, soon disappearing. Chloe's heart pounded within her; the gun fire seemed to draw louder, closer. Suddenly an unfamiliar sound broke through the cacophony and she realized it was her cell phone. She yanked it from her pocket, yelling inside, "Hello?"

"Chloe!" Jack's voice sent a wave of relief through her. "Where are you?"

A shot hit the wall just near her and she crouched together even tighter. "I can't really talk right now, Jack!"

"Chloe, listen to me! David Emerson is trying to break into Paragon! You need to get away from him and get here, to CTU!"

But Chloe only heard as far as 'David'. Her phone began breaking up and she strained to hear more.

"Jack? My phone's dying!"

"Where are you?" he said, succinctly.

She began to answer but looked at the phone to see the light had gone out and it was, indeed, dead. When David suddenly slid next to her, she dropped the phone aside and noticed his new gun firmly in hand. He snapped up, shooting at the men and the gunfire got more scattered.

She unexpectedly noticed one approaching from behind and she gripped his sleeve. "David!"

He spun around but the man shot quickly, hitting David in his arm and causing him to stumble back. Chloe saw the blood beginning to seep out of his shirt almost instantly but the man still neared, gun drawn. She quickly picked up the weapon and fired directly at him. The man fell back from the multiple hits and she slowed with surprise at her own unexpected reaction.

Realizing the gunfire had stopped and he was the last of the thugs, she dropped the gun, kneeling over David as he sat propped up against the desk.

He looked over her and murmured, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she answered, finding his sleeve half covered in blood. "I'm going to put pressure on it, okay?"

"Yeah," he exhaled. "It just grazed me."

"It's bleeding a lot," she noted with worry.

"It'll be fine," David said then looked up at her. "You sure you're okay?"

His arm shook lightly beneath her hand and the blood was beginning to run between her fingers. She clenched his arm tighter to stop it then met his concerned eyes and replied, "Yeah."


12:58 PM

"Jack!" Curtis entered his office without invitation, seeing him battling with the phone.

"What?" he snapped.

"We just got an alert from local LAPD. A man found his neighbor shot dead in her home this morning. The man identified a blue Taurus like the one we saw David Emerson driving on the traffic cams at the neighbor's house this morning."

"So? A lot of people have blue cars. What's the connection?"

"The neighbor," Curtis replied, regretfully. "Her name was Helen O'Brian. It's Chloe's mother."

Jack felt an gathering dread in the pit of his stomach and realized Chloe was in more danger than he had imagined.


1:00:00