LEGAL A/N: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all characters belong to Joss Whedon, 20TH Century Fox Television, UPN, The WB and CW. 24 and all characters belong to Robert Cochran, Joel Surnow, 20TH Century Fox Television, Imagine Television, Real Time Productions and Fox Network. No profit is being made off of this and no copyright infringement is intended.

THE FOLLOWING TAKES PLACE BETWEEN 12:00 A.M. AND 1:00 A.M.

12:00:00 A.M. PST

Tara's car slowly pulled up to the curb of 1630 Revello Drive as Buffy leapt out of the passenger's side even before the vehicle slowed down. Terror grew in Buffy's eyes as the washing of red and white lights coming from the parked fire truck blinded her. White steam bellowed through parts of the house, though structural damage was at a minimum thanks to the timely response to the flames from the neighbors that called 9-1-1.

"Buffy!" Tara called as she jumped out of the car after she threw it into park. "Wait!" With the engine still running, she and James bolted from the car towards the house.

A passing firefighter tried to stop Buffy by blocking her path to the front door. "I'm sorry, ma'am," he began, holding up his hands. "You can't go in—" His words ended abruptly as Buffy lifted him off of his feet and tossed him out of her path. He rolled down the stairs of her porch, catching the attention of the other firefighters.

"Leave!" Tara shouted as she held up her palms and squeezed her eyes tightly closed. A shockwave of light burst from her hands and spread quickly over the lawn. The firefighters stopped and stared blankly for several moments. Tara continued into the house as James stood in the lawn bewildered and watching them intently.

The fire squad turned around and gathered their equipment, walking slowly towards the fire truck. Luckily, the fire had been extinguished and there was no need for them to be there.

Inside the house, Buffy ran through the blackened and charred foyer and glanced into the living room which looked the same. "Dawn?" Buffy shouted, but heard no reply. Steam rose from the couch and walls as she ran through the living room to the kitchen to find it deserted and badly burned. Tara rushed in after her, standing in awe of the damage.

"Dawn!" Buffy yelled out as she rushed back into the foyer and raced up the staircase frantically. James walked in behind Tara and gazed around at the damage. "Dawn!" they heard from upstairs as Buffy raced from door to door. She ran down the stairs to the foyer below a different person than when she ran up.

Tara and James could tell from her face that this was very bad. "I-I can't find her," she breathed in terror. Tears were gathering in her eyes and she gripped the banister of the staircase. "I shouldn't have left her…" Buffy whispered to herself.

The image of Spike dragging her off nearly stopped her heart and filled it with guilt and sorrow. Every moment she had spent with him now poured down her throat like acid.

"This is all my fault…" she said, staring blankly and shaking her head. "This is all my fault…" She suddenly felt a strong grip on her arm and was shaken out of her daze by James. He stared into her eyes strongly, only revealing the slightest sense of sympathy.

"Enough already," he ordered. "Snap out of it."

"You don't understand," she said, shaking her head with tears in her eyes as she stared up at him. Tara watched her with pity as she suddenly understood the source of her frantic, weak behavior. She recalled being in the Summers' living room just a few weeks ago and having Buffy collapse sobbingly into her arms. "He's doing this be-because of m-me—"

"You don't have time for this right now," James declared toughly.

She repeated, "You don't understand!"

"Yes, I do!" he snapped back. This pulled her out of her self-pity quickly as she stared up at him in confusion. "I know what it's like to have someone you care about taken away from you. And I know what it's like to be the cause of it." He glanced away from her for the slightest second, his own remorse becoming evident in his eyes briefly until they found hers once again. "Trust me, that can't slow you down right now." She gazed at him in silence as she remembered once again who she was and regained control of herself.

He looked over to see Tara staring at him with puzzlement. James now found himself being the subject of curiosity by both women.

12:06:36 A.M. PST

Dawn continued her frantic run down the dark, damp sewer tunnels, searching for a way out. She bravely crossed patches of total darkness and disgusting smells while hoping desperately that she was not being followed.

She stopped suddenly as she spotted a metal ladder leading up to a manhole above. Glancing around quickly from side to side, she gripped the rungs of the ladder and began to climb upwards and out of the sewers. She now had her freedom, but she hadn't the slightest clue where her sister was – or even if she was still alive. Where could she go?

12:10:12 A.M. PST

Xander pulled up to the curb as the tires screeched to a halt on DuBose Road. He leapt out of the car and raced up to the payphone where Anya had been. He found the receiver lying on the ground, the cord that once was attached to it swaying freely in the night wind.

Xander's eyes set on the ripped cord as his heart sank in his chest. He looked from side to side as Willow approached and could not find any sign of his fiancé. "No…" he whispered. "We're too late…"

Willow turned to him with a face of empathy. "Maybe," she began, trying to sound hopeful and strong for her best friend, "maybe she saw someone coming and ran away before they found her."

"Did they rip the phone apart, too?" Xander exclaimed with frustration. "He took her." His voice darkened as his eyes narrowed, filling with hatred of every vampire he'd ever met – Spike being the most hated of them all. "He took her again."

"We don't know that."

"Of course we do!" he snapped. "We should've killed him a long time ago! If we had he wouldn't of…" The words fell from his lips and disappeared under his breath as if he could not continue. Horrible thoughts began to fill his mind. "I'll kill him," he stated as if it were a simple fact. "I'll kill him when I find him."

"Xander," Willow shook her head, full of concern, "this isn't helping." Her face was plastered into an uncomfortable frown.

"No, it isn't," Xander replied. "What would help is if I could kill him right—"
He stopped suddenly, an idea occurring to him.

"What?" Willow responded, afraid to ask. He turned to her with wide eyes, full of hope.

"You could kill him," he declared in revelation. "You could stop him before he does something to her."

Willow began to shake her head apologetically. "You mean with magic."

"Will, if there's ever a time to use it... it's now."

"No," she breathed nervously. "I-I can't do it."

"Yes, you can…" he pushed.

"M-maybe Tara c-could try…"

"There's no time for that," Xander replied impatiently. "You know she's not as powerful as you are."

"As I was," she declared. "I'm not anymo—"

"Yes, you are!" he shouted in fury. "You can do this and you know it!"

"No, I can't!" her voice fiercely boomed, each word being stressed harder by all the pressure and frustration her addiction to magic was placing on her. It seemed almost as if her eyes flashed with fire. It was enough to silence Xander immediately.

"I'm sorry," she said, after catching her breath and regaining her calmness. "That's something I can't do." Willow glared up at him defensively and daringly, "If you want to waste time by arguing with me about it then go ahead. But if not, we've got to find another way."

Willow turned away from him and began to scan the area around the phone booth. Without another word, Xander took a deep breath and helped her with the search.

12:16:47 A.M. PST

"Okay," Buffy breathed as she paced back and forth in the charred living room. "So what do we know?" Tara and James stood near the entrance and listened carefully as the wind blew through the gaping hole in the shattered family room.

"These vampires are well armed and they want your sister for some reason," James stated. James' eyes fell to the ground as he noted a broken picture frame lying near him.

"Which makes we wonder what Spike has to do with this," Tara suggested. "I mean, if he wanted to get to you… wouldn't he have just killed me?" She frowned suddenly. "Or not, if he thought I didn't matter that much. Damn, I hate being the sideman. But on the other hand – I'm alive." She looked up at Buffy's incredulous face as she stared blankly at her. "Oh, no – not to say that Dawn's not—"

"Thanks," Buffy nodded, signaling that it was a good time to stop. "What else do we know?" James picked up the picture frame and stared down at it as he responded.

"I don't know much about Spike," James began, "but she does have a point. Why did he leave Tara alive? He had to have known she would've given him up."

"And do you really think he went so far as to plan that attack on Doublemeat?" Tara added. "I mean, Sophie the evil mastermind running with Spike? That doesn't add up."

James continued to stare at the photograph of Buffy and another young blonde which must have been Dawn lying on their stomachs in the grass with a middle-aged woman that looked very similar to Buffy sitting behind them. All of them had wide, proud smiles – the normal American family… or so it seemed.

James asked as he looked up from the picture, "What would he have to gain from it?"

"I don't know," Buffy sighed, clutching her throbbing skull. "I just don't know. Any of it. God, times like this I wish somebody would come out of nowhere and give me all the answers! I mean, is he working for somebody?" She sighed tiredly, "Is he… is he just trying to get back at me…?"

"For what?" he asked. Buffy glanced up at him blankly, not knowing how to explain or what to say.

"Who knows?" a voice called from the foyer. James, Tara and Buffy turned to see Elijah standing next to Goliath and six other vampires behind them standing calmly and listening to their conversations. Elijah continued, "Who doesn't have a good reason to kill their girlfriend?"

James, Tara and Buffy lined up as they became surrounded by the other vampires that poured in from the other living room entrance. Buffy looked to her right to see that even more vampires stood in the gaping hole of the living room.

"Who are you?" Buffy demanded. "Wait – I don't care. How did you get in here?"

"You should watch what you say," Elijah explained. "Unfortunately for you, we do have all the answers." The vampires spread out all around them as the enemies eyed each other.

James stared intently at Elijah. Something about him caught his attention – in his face and in his eyes. The sheer lack of consideration or care. It wasn't just for pleasure, it was for business. He had seen someone very much like him in another life.

"What do you want?" Buffy demanded.

"Many, many things, Alice," Elijah grinned. "Much more than you can possibly conceive. If seems as if you've tumbled down into the wrong rabbit hole." He glared at Buffy with a twisted grin. "But for now," he stated, "let's just start with the basics."

Goliath vamped out and lunged at Buffy, quickly delivering a devastating punch to her face. James was about to intervene, but two vampires grabbed him on either side and threw him to the ground. Tara turned to see a vampire charge at her, but she ducked down and the vamp tripped over her back. She reached down and grabbed a piece of the broken coffee table and buried it into the heart of the downed vamp. Elijah stood as still and calm as a statue, staring unblinkingly straight ahead, with both of his hands firmly behind his back.

Buffy kneed Goliath in the abdomen then hooked him with her right fist. Goliath lifted her off of the ground and threw her across the charred living room. One of the vampires held James' arms behind his back as another retrieved a hunting knife and aimed for his chest. James foot went up, kicking the vampire in the head as he threw the vampire behind him onto his back and on top of the other.

"In the heart!" Tara shouted, throwing the makeshift stake at him. James caught it and stabbed one of the vampires, dusting him. Tara turned around to see two more vampires bolting towards her, and she ran into the kitchen while they pursued her.

On the ground, Buffy crawled towards the wooden chest against the far wall, but Goliath was on her feet in no time. He grabbed her by the ankles and yanked her across the floor away from the box. Buffy rolled onto her back and flipped up onto her feet, kicking the vampire in his fanged face. He swung a left punch at her, but she blocked with her left, then spun around and roundhouse kicked him backwards.

James yanked his table leg out of one of the vampires and into the next that tried to tackle him. He felt something stirring within him which had been long repressed. He looked up to see a vamp swing at him with a hatchet and he quickly leaned back out of the path of the blade. He used the table leg to block the next swing, and ducked beneath the third. As he ducked, he drove the table leg into the vampire's stomach, causing the monster to roar with inhuman ferocity. James snatched the hatchet out of the vamp's hand and sliced the demon's head off in a matter of moments.

Buffy grabbed Goliath by the throat while he was on the ground and buried her fist into his demonic face four times. He finally caught her fist within his own massive paws and kicked her in the stomach, sending her backwards into a burned bookshelf. She toppled to the ground as charred volumes on how to properly kill a vampire crashed down on top of her.

Tara rushed through the kitchen with the vampires right behind her as she threw open a drawer and stared down at it in confusion. She felt a rush of wind as a butcher knife flew by her face and dug itself into a wall. Tara turned around to see that some idiot had taken out all of the cutlery and put it by the sink where the vampires were free to access it.

She yelped as one of the vampires lunged another blade at her, and she ducked behind the kitchen island. Tara ran to the kitchen table and picked up a glass vase that had miraculously survived the fire and threw it at them, hitting one of them and knocking him backwards momentarily.

The shy witch turned around and saw three more vampires rushing towards her from the foyer, as the two vampires approached her from behind. Terrified, she ran up the stairs with the five vampires pursuing her.

Buffy came to her feet as two more vampires who were standing outside jumped into the living room through the hole and began to battle her. She blocked their punches and kicked one away while she threw the other into a wall. Goliath grabbed her from behind, wrapped his massive arms around her, and squeezed her trachea shut. Buffy struggled and gasped for air to no avail as the monster choked her from behind.

"Good night, little girl," Goliath grinned as he opened his jaws wide and lowered down onto her neck. Buffy lifted her feet off the ground and pushed herself off of what was left of the couch, sending the couch crashing through the living room hole into the front lawn and sending herself and Goliath backwards. He let go of her to break his fall, but it was too late.

Buffy hit the ground while Goliath crashed into the television set, electrocuting himself and setting his body aflame. Buffy looked over with disgust as the massive monster was quickly reduced to flaming ash.

"Damn it!" she spat, slamming her fist into the floor beneath her angrily. "Now I'm definitely gonna miss The Dead Zone!"

Elijah leapt like a tiger and jumped on top of Buffy violently, battering her flesh ferociously with his fists. She grabbed him by the throat and pushed him back as she watched his face transform into its yellow-eyed vampire guise.

James buried his hatchet into the chest of a vampire then struck him across the neck. He turned away from the exploding cloud of dust to swipe at another vampire's throat, dusting it in seconds. James glanced back at an oncoming vamp and ducked beneath a wooden club. He came up, kneed the vampire in the stomach, and yanked the club back and into the vampire's heart, dusting him.

Upstairs, the five vampires rushed down the hallway and aimed for the master bedroom – the only one with the door wide open. They raced into the room and glanced around to see it dark and empty. Suddenly, a bright, yellow light appeared from behind as Tara pushed the door closed, shutting them inside with her.

The vampires spun around to see Tara extending both of her hands towards them as a bright light formed between her palms. "Light of Sol!" she commanded. The yellow light grew instantly and burst into rays of sunlight that filled the room and dusted the vampires within seconds. Dizzied, Tara collapsed on the ground as the room darkened and was lit with nothing more than the moonlight outside.

James looked back to see Elijah pinning Buffy to the ground as his hands clutched her throat, choking her. Buffy stared up at Elijah's furious expression as his jaws began to open, revealing his jagged teeth to her.

"Give your sister my regards," Elijah hissed as he leaned down towards her throat. Buffy looked over the vampire's shoulder and saw James practically flying through the air with the hatchet pulled back. He buried the hatchet into the vampire's back and ignited a howling roar unlike any she had ever heard.

With the axe blade still inside his back near his spine, Elijah was yanked off of Buffy like an animal. Buffy sat up as she watched James bury the corner of the hatchet blade into Elijah's hand, nailing it into the wooden floorboards. James came to a stand, glaring down at Elijah in silent victory as Buffy pulled herself off of the ground.

A small group of vampires rushed into the living room, but as soon as they saw their fearless leader writhing in agony on the ground, they turned and retreated quickly. Buffy and James stared down at Elijah as he hollered desperately, then looked up to see Tara slowly and dazedly walking down the stairs, taking note of the screams.

Buffy turned around and went to the wooden chest in the corner, opening it to reveal a plethora of weapons. She picked a short sword out and strolled over to Elijah, holding the blade at his throat.

"Tell me what you've done to my sister and I'll make this a lot quicker," she declared vehemently, dangling the end of the sword at his neck.

Elijah slowly answered with a trembling voice, "She's… she's still alive. She… s-she escaped…"

"What did you want with her?" Buffy demanded.

"Noth-nothing," Elijah spat, his body beginning to go into shock. Elijah's eyes fell to the ground to the hatchet buried into his hand. "She… she meant… nothing…"

"If you reach for that weapon I will make sure you see hell before you die," James warned.

Elijah's chest began to heave with agony. "You-you don't ha-have a-a lot of… of time."

"According to what you just said," James declared as he glowered down on the vampire, "we've got all the time in the world." He frowned fiercely. "You don't, but we do."

"Time's a-a funny thing," Elijah said, managing a slight smirk on his face as he looked up at James. "Isn't it, Jack?" His eyes went wide with horror as Buffy turned to him in confusion. Elijah looked up at him as he reached beneath his jacket. "Good luck," the vampire spat, then closed his eyes. He pulled a sawed-off shotgun out of his jacket and had barely enough time to put the barrel under his chin and pull the trigger.

Tara screamed as Buffy and James jumped backwards as an explosion of dust rained down on them, Elijah vanishing into ash and falling to the ground. Buffy and James both hit the ground as Tara opened her eyes with shock and bewilderment.

James could feel his heart beating out of his chest as he heard Buffy whisper, "Jack?" He turned to her with a stunned and fearful expression. Buffy slowly turned to him with a face of confusion that slowly transformed into that of rage and betrayal. "Who the hell is Jack?" Buffy demanded, her green eyes flashing.

"Buffy…" he slowly stuttered as he moved to his feet. Buffy came to a slow stand, her eyes burning on him. "This isn't what it looks like…"

"I'm going to ask you one more time," Buffy fiercely threatened, "and then I'm gonna find out with my fists." She glowered at him as he slowly backed away. "Who is Jack?"

He felt his heart sink as he saw in her eyes the same fierce anger and betrayal that plagued him his entire life. He saw it in the eyes of his daughter after he had to tell her that his mother had been murdered and he was powerless to stop it. He saw it in Audrey's eyes when he had to sacrifice her husband's life for the greater good. The man they were looking at with that wrath and heartbreak had returned. In fact, as much as he hated to admit it, he was always there inside of him.

The officer of the law. The defender of the innocent. The last American hero.

The monster.

"Me," he whispered, with sorrowful, dark eyes. He looked up at Buffy with a soft, shameful tone. "My name is Jack Bauer."

12:33:02 A.M. PST

Willow, with the fire axe in hand, stared down closely at the ground, walking around the telephone booth slowly. Her narrow eyes pierced the night air surrounding her, as she paused suddenly and gazed up at Xander marching around the corner of the building.

"I got nothing," he announced, walking up to her, his chest heaving heavily. "This is wasted time. We need to move."

"Move where, Xander?" Willow asked, as she continued to search the area. "There's got to be something here… It's like I can feel it."

"That's great," Xander sighed. "But it's not—" His words halted immediately as he stared down into the gutter of the street. "Wait – what's that?" He bent down and picked up a shiny medallion of some sort, holding it in the palm of his hand. Willow walked over and examined it closely.

A strange, loopy symbol and a triangle were engraved into the silver medallion, along with the face of a horned beast. The edges and curves reflected the moonlight into their inquisitive faces. "I don't think you'll find one of these at Claire's," Willow declared, studying the medallion.

"You think this belongs to Spike?" Xander asked.

"Assuming Spike is responsible for this part," Willow frowned. "I'm not so sure about that anymore." Xander inhaled slightly as he gazed down at the medallion, then glanced up at his best friend. "Come on," she declared, taking the medallion and grabbing him by the arm. "This is our only lead. Let's get back to the Magic Box and look this up."

12:38:57 A.M. PST

Tara leaned up against the wall of the living room as Buffy stood in the doorway to the living room with her arms crossed tightly, a bitter expression on her face. She listened with a clenched jaw and cold eyes which were firmly held on him. Jack stood in front of both women with a regretful expression.

"I had to change my name and leave town," Jack explained, barely able to look at her. "I-I've been dead to the world for about six months now."

"So you're like a… secret agent or something?" Tara asked, astounded.

"Federal agent," Jack corrected then added with a disappointed tone. "I… was."

"And the reason the government tried to kill you," Buffy nodded calmly, mulling over the shocking revelation, "is because you're a threat?"

Jack stood silent for several moments, not being able to look at her as he finally replied, "Yes."

"Don't you think this would've been useful information when we were locked in a meat cellar while a gang of vampires took hostages outside?" Buffy asked with a disgusted tone that grew more and more agitated. "Or how 'bout when Anya was kidnapped and Tara was knocked unconscious? How 'bout when they tried to burn down my house with my sister still inside of it?"

"I didn't tell you," Jack began apologetically, "because I tried to protect you. Anybody who knows who I really am is in danger."

"Well," Buffy rolled her eyes, "it's obviously a little late for that."

"I can understand how angry you must be," Jack replied.

Buffy replied bitterly, "I guess you're all about understanding, aren't ya?" She glared at him with an angered and equally hurt expression, feeling deceived and conned by the stranger whom she just put all of her trust in. Jack stared at her blankly, realizing just how much she had opened to him, and felt all the more guilty about it. "Isn't it a little coincidental for all of this to be happening the day you show up?"

"Listen to me, Buffy," Jack declared endearingly as he approached her. She took a cautious step back big enough and poignant enough to cut him deeply. His heart sank as he froze in his steps. Tara glanced back and forth between Jack and Buffy intently. His eyes fell to the ground and his face was stricken with a miserable expression that both Tara and Buffy – despite all her anger – took note of. His blue and green eyes found hers after a brief, troubled sigh.

"I know I haven't been honest," he pleaded genuinely, "but I haven't betrayed you. I swear, I didn't know anything about this world – vampires, Slayers, magic, any of it – until tonight." Buffy stared at him, studying his seemingly unadulterated demeanor. "I'm not responsible for what's happened," Jack promised, looking up at her.

She gazed at him with a withering expression. "How am I supposed to believe you?" she sighed.

"I'm gonna find your sister," he affirmed, to the surprise of both of them. Tara glanced over at Buffy, then back to Jack.

"Uh… how?" Tara asked.

"We've already established that she went through the sewers," Jack declared. "And there have to be other places to look. You can't search them all by yourself."

"What are you saying?" Buffy asked.

"I'm asking you to trust me," Jack replied. "And I won't let you down."

12:47:57 A.M. PST

Jack was walking down a darkened alley in Downtown Sunnydale, quickly approaching the Sun Theater. He had two stakes in his back pocket, along with a knife in a hilt that Buffy had provided him with on his belt. She had also told him that more than likely she would be headed towards either the Magic Box, where he was directed; Xander's home, where Tara was going; or Spike's crypt if he truly had nothing to do with her capture, where Buffy was headed.

He was both surprised and grateful that she would trust him again, and he kept repeating the need of finding her sister. As he emerged from the alley, he stopped suddenly and stared at the street around him. The night world was beginning to darken even more before his eyes. The lights on the street dimmed as the lines and curves of the world blurred.

Jack swayed uncontrollably. Lightheadedness and fatigue struck him like a massive storm, clouding his senses. Within seconds, his body went numb as he fell to the ground unconsciously.

12:51:09 A.M. PST

Kimberly Bauer stood in the driveway of the Matheson home in Los Angeles as the blonde, nine-year-old daughter of Gary and Carla rambunctiously raced about while she watched with a smile on her face. The young woman pushed her short, chin-length blonde hair behind her ear, and then turned around to see a man walking up the driveway towards her wearing a dark blue plaid shirt and jeans.

She pulled her face away from him, almost as if it would aide in him not seeing her. But she knew that wasn't the case. "Uh… Megan?" she asked the young girl, slightly nervously. "Why don't you go play in the back and I'll be there in a minute?"

Megan nodded with a smile and rushed off to the Matheson backyard while Kim turned around and faced her father. Jack Bauer, wearing a scruffy beard and a somewhat timid expression, stepped up to her with a hopeful and simultaneously terrified heart. His daughter wrapped her arms around herself tightly, almost protectively, and he noticed the backwards-step she took as he approached her.

He stopped where he was and looked down, wounded. "Dad," she breathed with tension in her voice, "what are you doing here?"

"Just came by to say hi," he answered, looking up at her with somewhat of a smile. She looked away anxiously as he stared at her, the happiness of being in his daughter's presence warming his heart despite the awkwardness of the situation. Kim turned back to him with a frown forming on her face that he had seen before. "Look, sweetheart," he began before she even said anything, "you don't have to worry. I didn't come by to ask you to lunch or to hang out. I just…" He sighed, "I miss you."

"I know," she nodded with eyes full of pity as she gazed up at him. "I miss you, too."

He shook his head with painful frustration and confusion, "Then why won't you—?"

"Every time I see you I think of Mom," she blurted out with a sigh, squeezing her eyes closed momentarily. She opened them to see his eyes fall to the ground and his face strike a miserable expression that she took note of.

"Honey," Jack replied tenderly, with a voice full of guilt, "all I ever wanted is to have the three of us together.

She shook her head with guilt of her own. "Dad, please…"

"I tried," he rambled on. "I-I did everything I could…"

"It's not your fault—"

"Of course, it's my fault, sweetheart," he pleaded, seeming to beg absolution that he knew would never come. "I know it's my fault—"

"Dad!" she exclaimed with pity as she wrapped her arms around her father tightly. He closed his eyes and hugged her tightly, remembering the past when he could do that any time he wanted to.

"I love you," he whispered.

Kim sighed as she continued to hold him close. "I'm not ready yet," she declared regretfully. She felt a slight release of his muscles as if he almost let her go. He didn't however, as Jack continued to hold her. Kim rested her head on his shoulder, hearing no response.

"I-I don't know… I don't know what else to tell you…" She felt Jack's grip slowly tighten on her, as if he were afraid to let her go. Or wasn't going to.

"Dad," she began, "I really have to—" His arms squeezed her with raw and vengeful force, as she grimaced in pain. "Dad!" she shouted, but the air was swiftly pushed out of her lungs.

Kim stood helplessly in the driveway with her father slowly crushing her with brutal force. "Stop!" she cried out as she punched her fists into his back to no avail. It was like battering a mountain of cold and uncaring stone.

She was somehow able to push herself away momentarily, but found herself in the grip of his hands again as Jack clutched her throat viciously. Kim looked into her his eyes with horror at the revelation that he was no longer her father. Inside of his multihued eyes was a mixture of rage and savage cruelty which she had never seen in the likes of any man before.

Kim gasped and strugged for air and she stared at the stranger's ferocious face as his grip tightened on her throat, crushing her collarbone inside of his fingers. She clawed at his unforgiving hands as tears streamed down her face. "Please…" she whispered with all the air she had left, wondering above all things how and why he would do this to her.

The only response she received came in the form of a twisted grin which stretched his stone face. In a flash, he grabbed her chin and jerked her head to the side, savoring the feeling and sound of the break reverberating through her flesh.

12:56:49 A.M. PST

"Help me!"

A female scream rang out through the street as Jack Bauer's eyes popped open with terror and revulsion. He threw himself up off of the ground as he glanced around from side-to-side with horror, his heart racing as he struggled for every breath he could take. "No," he breathed, his eyes wide.

"Somebody help!" another scream sounded out.

"Kim!" Jack shouted back as he scrambled to his feet, still in a daze. He bolted from the sidewalk and swung around a corner at the Sun Theater in a flash. He was blocks away from the Magic Box as he saw a teenage girl with long, dark blonde hair racing down the street with three, dark-hooded figures pursuing her.

Dawn Summers glanced behind her to see the three hooded demons chasing her blindly through the streets as they had been for a least a minute. She darted towards the Magic Box, praying that her sister would be there to save her as her muscles throbbed and ached with fatigue and pain.

"Buffy!" she yelled as she pulled her legs up one at a time, but could feel herself slowing down. She suddenly felt a forceful push on her back as she went down on the concrete sidewalk near the hardware store. She skidded and rolled across the cement, bloodying her left arm and chin until she was stopped by banging into the brick wall.

Her whole body was on fire as she dazedly glanced up at the three men standing over her wearing dark robes and hoods which covered their faces. Her heart skipped a beat as one of them pulled out a long, curved dagger and raised it over her body.

An arm reached out over the figure's neck as Jack sliced the throat of the attacker open. He grabbed the hand concealing the curved knife and plunged the blade into the eye of the figure to the right. Dawn pushed herself up with terror as the stranger before her blocked a punch from the third figure, then kicked the robed attacker away, the hood falling from its head.

Jack reached for a stake and gripped it tightly, but froze when he saw the attacker's face. It was pale and that of a human's except for one important trait: bloody, carved symbols replaced the area of the face where eyes should be.

The demon pulled another curved knife out and swung it at Jack, but he caught it, dropping the stake, and then broke the demon's arm with a twist. He reached down and grabbed the knife in the hilt on his side and drove it into the side of the skull of the demon, killing it in seconds.

The lifeless body of the demon fell backwards, landing on the ground as Jack and Dawn stared at it in bewilderment. Dawn gazed up at her rescuer with a mixture of amazement and fear. She glanced him over: an older, blonde, well-built man with short hair and bloody hands wearing a hideous orange-and-white striped shirt. He suddenly whirled around and faced her with an intense expression. Gritting through her pain, she tried to crawl backwards and away from her obviously unstable rescuer.

"Dawn?" he said, stopping her. She looked up at him with confusion. He stared down at her and whispered a soft plea with an air of desperation.

"Please… don't be afraid of me."


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