The silence which suddenly surrounded them was unnerving. Jack was staring ahead at the wall again, trying to decide what to do; tell her or flee? He slyly stole a quick glance form the corner of his eye at Gina. She was fiddling with her hands and chewing her lip. Like him, she was lost for words but she tried anyway.

"What is it? What do you need to tell me?" She heard Jack sigh and tried to reassure him, "it will be okay."

Jack looked at her and shifted away from her slightly. "Will it? I'm not so sure," he trailed off.

"Did you do something wrong?" She asked, thinking aloud, trying to understand what it was he didn't want to tell her.

"Yes."

"Something bad?"

"Yes."

"It doesn't matter," she repeated, her voice higher as she tried to reassure the pair of them. "The past doesn't matter Ric, tell me about it if it makes you feel better and then we can both move on, together."

Jack frowned and gently took her hand, placing it between both of his. "What you need to understand is that this is something so big that we may not be able to move on. My past actions… they could catch up with me… and you -"

"What do you mean?" There was a slight note of worry in her voice, Jack squeezed his eyes closed, unable to continue.

"Ric? Richard…"

Finally Jack snapped. "Don't call me that!" He was surprised by the harsh and bitter tone of his voice and Gina was silently stunned. She stared at him but there was no fear in her eyes. It was more surprise and curiosity, she wanted him to continue, he knew; so he did.

"That isn't my name."

The silence returned and this time Gina made no attempt to break it. She stared him with a small frown on her face, disappointment rather than anger, and simply watched him as she waited for him to continue.

"My name is Jack… or it was anyway."

Gina sighed and looked back down at her stomach, her patience was starting to wear.

"Listen Ric, I mean Jack, or whoever you are. I'm tired and I'm getting bored. Either tell me whatever the hell it is you are trying to say now, or leave. I haven't got the time or the energy to play mind games with you. I'm not all that smart so if you have some story to tell keep it simple. And if this is some kind of sick wind up I swear to God I'm gonna hurt you." She finished with a soft smile on her face and Jack couldn't help but smile too. But then he remembered what he had to tell her and it soon vanished as sadness filled his eyes.

"I love you. I don't wanna lose you. That's why I have to tell you this."

"Okay," she said softly, "so tell me."

"Before I do, I just need you to know that I never wanted to lie to you. I had no choice. The only reason I'm telling you this is because some friends of mine fear that I could be putting you in danger by being with you."

He paused and Gina nodded at him to continue, her face was blank but he couldn't help but notice how her arms crossed defensively over her stomach when he mentioned the possibility of danger.

"Before I go on, I need you to understand that this information… it can't leave this room, you can't tell a soul."

Gina smiled again, "who am I gonna tell?" She saw that he wasn't comfortable with that alone so she added, "you trust me right?"

Jack smiled, "of course."

"The tell me."

"My real name is Jack Bauer. I was a federal agent working for the Counter Terrorist Unit in Los Angeles for years until I took up a position in Washington working as a special assistant to the Secretary of Defence James Heller."

Gina's eyes went wide and he continued, now he was speaking the words he had banned himself from speaking he couldn't stop himself. "On the day of Habid Marwan's terrorist attacks I was brought back into CTU to stop them. We were successful, but that success rested on a covert attack on the Chinese consulate. I led it, knowing that if something were to go wrong the government source who had sanctioned it would claim deniability - that's who it works," he added, seeing a look of shock cross her face then quickly fade. "The consulate was killed during the raid by friendly fire, and so after kidnapping an agent who was on my team, the Chinese government came looking for me."

"So you ran?"

"Not exactly," Jack said, again calculating his words before speaking them aloud. "My government were aware of the threat and somebody decided that it was better if I was killed by my own people instead of captured by China. They sent somebody to CTU to kill me, but I was tipped off. A couple of friends helped me stage my death to get China and the government off my back. I had to leave, and I did. I ended up here."

Gina looked at him carefully, words almost foreign to her.

"This is all so crazy," she said, "its almost absurd," she said, forcing another smile on her face. Jack didn't know how she could smile even now, after learning of his betrayal.

"I made a phone call, to a friend who helped me, I wanted to get an update on my old life. Somebody tried to trace the call. They were unsuccessful - it could have been China, it could be the government looking for me so they can finish me off - it could have been nothing. I just.. I can't stay here and knowingly put you in danger. If China find me with you… you could be hurt, to hurt me."

"Maybe you're being paranoid," she said, for her own benefit rather than hers.

"Trust me, I'm not."

"Well then," Gina said as she got up to her feet and started to pace the room, "what do we do?"

"We?" Jack asked, getting up to join her.

"Well yeah, I mean… I can't say I understand any of this, and you lied to me… I'm not totally sure I can believe all of this, but I trust you and I want to be with you - that's what matters."

"I could be putting you in danger right now," Jack said as he moved closer to her, not willing to believe that she was taking the news so well, so nonchalantly.

"Well that's a risk we have to take."

"What are you saying here?" He asked, tucking a long golden curl behind her ear, he needed to do it for the distraction, his hands were shaking from admitting the truth to her. He'd been so sure this was it and the relationship would be over, but here she was, barely shrugging her shoulders at the news, the truth, the life he had ran from that had caught up with him once again.

"I think we need to talk. I know there's a lot you aren't telling me, and there are things I probably need to know. Maybe I should tell you a few things myself," she said shyly, "but I meant what I said earlier," she added, gently interlocking her hand in his, "the past doesn't matter - I just want to share my future with you and our baby."

Jack sneaked his hand down to her stomach as he kissed her tenderly on the cheek. "Thank you," he whispered deeply into her ear, "thank you so much."

"I love you," she said, giggling as she whispered the words into his own ear, and as if on cue the baby kicked making them both smile down at the bump once more.

Jack knew he had to tell Gina more, lots more, and they had to discuss what they would do. He knew he probably needed to contact Tony too, and Chloe, maybe they could both get new identities and move away before the baby was born. He knew he needed to start planning things now, but as Gina pulled him back down onto the bed he knew that they needed this more than ever, and so he decided his past could wait as he spent some more time with his future.