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 6:00 A.M. AND 7:00 A.M.

EVENTS OCCUR IN REAL TIME.

6:00:00 A.M. PST

Jack Bauer stared up at his deceased wife with confusion and horror. His heart told him to reach out for her and touch her one more time, for the last time he had done such a thing he was holding her cold, bloodied, lifeless body in his arms, sobbing with the anguish of his remorse for leading her into the web of deceit which consummated to her murder.

But now the young-looking woman with soft, alabaster skin; short, deep brown curls and big, sparkling eyes gazed down at him with a gentle expression. She was radiant in grace and glory – still wearing the clothes that he had last seen her in but they had been cleansed of her blood as he was cleansed of his sins and freed of the chains of his perpetual guilt.

Staring up at her motionlessly, a million words raced through his mind, but he could only form one in his lips. "Teri?" he declared with a mixture of awe and fear.

Lovingly, she beamed a warm smile that touched him like the sun's rays. "Jack."

Her voice rang within him and filled him with excitement and the astonished, triumphant joy of church bells. It was her voice. "H-How?" he stuttered in shock. "You're… you're…"

"Don't be afraid," she comfortingly declared as she stepped closer to him. As if it were magic, his fear disappeared and he gazed up at her with wide eyes of wonder. "It doesn't matter how or why," Teri softly responded as if she were whispering the words of a bedtime story. "We're together again. Just like you always wanted. Just like you always dreamed."
He was thrown even more off guard as he stared up at her with bewilderment. She tenderly nodded with reply, "Yes, I know. I know all of your dreams. All of your thoughts. I've watched you every moment since the last that we saw each other. You… Kim… I'm always there for you. I'm here."

Jack's expression of wonder began to fade as he mulled over the deeds of his life. He swallowed hard. "I… I let you die…" Tears began to sting his eyes once more as she leaned in close to him – almost touching him, but never getting close enough.

"Shh…" she soothingly responded. "No more tears…"

He wouldn't let himself be forgiven, shaking his head in protest as he choked out sorrowful confessions. "I've… done… horrible things."

"Horrible?" Teri repeated with a significant tone of disbelief. A smile stretched across her face again. "My love," she breathed with enchantment, "you can't possibly imagine how proud I am of you." He stared at her with disbelief as she continued, "You're the greatest man that I ever knew. My death wasn't in vain. It brought you one step closer to becoming what you are… what you're about to be."

With a motherly tone, she tilted her head and stared down into his eyes, "Horrible? The people that should be ashamed are the ones that abandoned you… betrayed you. They tried to kill you. All the things you've done for these people – this nation – you've given them everything. Sacrificed everything." With pity for his plight, Teri added, "You're their savior. Their champion."

She pulled away and began to pace around with a disgusted expression, fed-up with the injustice of the world. "But for what, Jack?" she sighed. "Fame? No. On the street you're treated like dirt… just like any other human being." She turned back to him inquisitively as he lay on the operating table staring up at her with humility. "Peace?" she asked. "No. Save the city from a nuclear bomb, a gang war will tear it apart the next day."

She crossed her arms as she stared deeply into his soul. "Love?" she stated. A small scoff came from her lips as she rolled her eyes, then stared at her husband with a caring smile. "No one has ever loved you more than me. No one will." He stared up at her and understood what she meant as thoughts of his failed relationship with Audrey and his destroyed relationship with Kim flashed through his mind. "No one knows you like I do," Teri explained. "They look at you – they see just how different you are, how extraordinary… and it scares them. But I look at you and I understand with perfect clarity exactly what you are. You're more than a hero, Jack – more than a savior. You're a god among ants. You deserve much, much more."

Jack closed his eyes for a moment, the fire of the chemical running through his veins, incinerating his strength. "I-I don't want anything…"

She couldn't help but smile, despite her position. "Humble, too," she declared. "But that's not the truth." She pleaded, "At least do what's right, Jack. Follow your destiny. For yourself… for me."

He opened his weak eyes and gazed up at her deliriously. "What… what do you want me to do?" he whispered.

Teri gazed at him for several moments, then leaned in close to his face with a kind smile. "Kill them," she whispered with a cold, wicked tone. "Kill them all."

Jack's calm expression melted into one of astonishment. "What?" he breathed in distress.

"Show them, Jack. Show them what it means to suffer."

Jack shook his head with growing fear. "I… I-I can't."

"C'mon, Jack!" she shouted with impatience. "Why do you fight? What for?"

"Kill them?" he repeated in disbelief.

"Are you defending them?" she declared incredulously, raising her voice. Her anger was growing rapidly. "How? They exiled you!"

Both his strength and will power drained from him, but his morals and conscience which had provided him so much turmoil were still intact for now. Teri stared at him with eyes begging for vengeance, but it was too much. Every day of his life since she had died had been about vengeance. Tears stained his face as he shook his head. "I-I can't… Please don't ask me to do this…"

"Don't tell me you still believe in the Home of the Free and the Land of the Brave?" Teri laughed mockingly. Her rage flashed as her eyes grew cold. "They don't even know the meaning of it!" she shouted. "They don't know tyranny; they don't know oppression!" Her voice lowered and calmed, but was thick with the venom of revenge. "They think they don't need you to save them anymore? To protect them?" She shook her head and smiled irately as she let out a laugh. "We'll show them that they do."

Jack gazed up at her in stunned silence, studying the vengeance in her eyes and the cruelty in her voice. The past memory of what Teri's smile used to look like flashed in his mind like a photograph, every detail vividly burned into his memory.

"You're not her," he breathed with total understanding. Teri froze and stared down at him with surprise as he continued to study her. "You're not my wife," he declared simply.

Several seconds went by as Teri gazed down at him. Her expressionless face transformed and shifted – her lips curling into a sinful smile. "Of course not," she answered. "Why would she be with you again? Why for one second?"

Jack's emotions changed drastically. He was now in the company of a stranger with his wife's face. His heart beat with resentment but paused with terror as he stared up at the creature before him, glaring down at him with malice.

"You're wrong, Jack," the Beast stated. "You didn't let her die. You flat out killed her." His mouth dry as a stone, he swallowed hard as he gazed up at her helplessly. "She blames you, you know," his wife's form announced, pacing around the room. "The moment that bullet went through her gut she blamed you as if you'd pulled the trigger."

Jack squeezed his eyes shut to escape the images in his head, but could not escape the poison being poured into his ears.

"Spending hours searching L.A. for her missing daughter," the monster continued, relishing in his torture, "she blamed you. When she was kidnapped, she blamed you. When she was hunted down, beaten, held hostage, and raped... she blamed you."

The evil being turned around and gazed at Jack just as it blurted this revelation. It knew that Jack never found out that his wife had sacrificed herself to save her daughter's innocence. It could practically hear his heart shatter inside of his chest under the weight of his guilt. Bauer opened his eyes and gazed over at the image of his wife with a sickness and revulsion churning inside.

"You can't save your country from it's enemies," Teri's doppelganger declared, "because it is it's own worst enemy." His wife's eyes formed a cold glare. "You couldn't save your wife from your enemies because you were the enemy."

Jack stared at her, his emotions gone and his heart crushed. The last bit of his will power snapped. "You're a failure as a hero, Jack. So why continue?" the evil being asked. "Why do you fight?" He gazed at her in silence until it was interrupted by the sounds of blaring sirens. The room was illuminated with flashing warning lights as the security alarms sounded.

6:06:28 A.M. PST

Willow closed up her laptop and pulled it off of the floor near the west entrance elevator, below Stanley Hall in UC Sunnydale. "All right," she declared. "The doors are open in the Initiative, except for the east wing, and whatever demons that are alive are loose."

"That'll keep them busy," Buffy agreed. "Just be careful – and if you see anything, run."

"I don't intend on sticking around to meet the locals," Willow said with a nervous frown. Buffy smashed the button on the elevator, pulling open the doors.

"You find Xander, I'll go get Jack," Buffy ordered as she raced off in one direction and Willow rushed down the hall in another.

6:07:02 A.M. PST

Kwan Paik ran across one of the artillery storage areas where a great number of vampires were rushing around, trying to arm themselves for the coming attack. In the distance, growls and roars of savage beasts that had been locked away all these years inside the hidden rooms of the Initiative – beasts that had been starved and abandoned from the first time Buffy's friends tried to shut down the Initiative. They were hunting for their survival, and were willing to take human and vampire alike.

He gazed up near the staircase to the second level and viewed Merrick, standing alone near the top of the stairwell, staring around with a satisfied look on his face. Kwan shook his head in confusion, positive that the old man, old whatever he was, had gone insane. "Merrick!" he called out as he rushed up the stairs.

Merrick barely paid attention to his own name. "Merrick," Kwan asked, "what is happening?"

Merrick stared around at the panicking vampires around him with a smile of contentment. "It's her," he whispered calmly. "She is here." A few feet away from them, leaning against the wall, Vourdulak stood with a pleasant expression of mischief. Merrick glanced back at her and she gently took her weight off of the wall and floated towards the exit of the room, avoiding all of the chaos like a goddess walking between raindrops.

6:08:31 A.M. PST

"It's her," the Beast with Teri's face declared. It stood with its arms crossed beside Jack's operating table. Jack was still bolted down to the cold, steel table with his strength drained, but inside he could feel a tempest of emotions brewing. On the outside, his skin was as cold as ice though sweat began to bead on his face. His breathing was short and irregular and his vision blurred from time to time, although being able to block out the sight of his wife controlled by some sort of evil being was a blessing.

"Our friendly neighborhood Slayer just showed up to save the day," said the Beast with a sneer. It glanced down at Jack mercilessly as it grinned in his agony. "You know what I think?" Teri-being smiled. "I think you've got a thing for her."

Jack's eyes opened as he glared up at the Beast. "Stop," he whispered harshly.

"Ooh, did I hit a nerve?" the Beast gleefully retorted, his wife's eyes expanding with pleasure. It began to sing mockingly, "Jack and Buf-fy sitting in a tree… K-I-L-L-I-N-G."

"Enough," Jack hissed. His weakness was disappearing as the hellfire inside began to boil his blood.

"Ah, don't be ashamed," Teri-being shrugged casually. "I mean, look at her. What's not to love? She's pretty, she's athletic, funny… Not too smart, though…" It turned towards Jack excitedly. "But hey – she's dangerous. Isn't that what turns you on?" Jack swallowed hard, his heart racing. The Beast strolled into the shadows as the alarms continued to blare with a constantly pulse. The room flashed red and yellow intermittently. Teri's voice changed into that of a familiar other as the Beast added, "Face it, Jack…"

Jack's eyes opened wide as he looked over at the figure emerging from the shadows, transformed from the angel of his deceased wife to the devil herself – Nina Myers. Her dark curly hair framed her bony face as her dark, piercing eyes gazed at him and burned through his broken heart, savoring in his agony. This was the woman he himself mercilessly murdered in retaliation for the merciless murder of his wife - the woman he had once had an affair with while he was seperated from Teri.

"You've always had a special place in your heart for killers," it grinned.

6:11:18 A.M. PST

Willow bolted down the flashing, narrow, grimy hallways of the Initiative with fear interred in her heart. Her laptop firmly tucked beneath her arm, she raced around with her eyes batting from side-to-side. In the distance she could hear the too-near growling of demons that she had set free with her expert hacking, but was beginning to seriously wish that she hadn't.

As she rounded a corner, she screamed as she crossed paths with a man and he spun around and aimed an M16 at her face. Willow squeezed her eyes shut and covered her face. "Halt!" he ordered.

She opened her eyes in shock. "Xander?" she exclaimed, staring at her friend wearing a white undershirt and blue jeans and holding the gun at the ready, with a headset on his head. It was like déjà vu and a page out of their unhappy Halloween history.

"Willow?" he said, recognizing her.

"Oh, thank god," she gasped with relief. "For a second there, I thought you had gone Rambo again."

"Great," he rolled his eyes.

Willow looked over at his headset as a panicked voice sprang from the ears, "Xander? Xander, who's there?"

"It's okay, it's Willow," Xander announced into the microphone. He then said to Willow, "Did you find Buffy? They took her away…"

"She made it out," Willow declared. "And they also took Jack here. They're going to chemically induce rage inside of him and make him into a homicidal killer, and then they're going to use him as they're new Terminator Adam. So we came back to find Jack and to shut down the Initiative for good."

"Okay," Xander nodded, and then paused, offended. "Wait – Buffy left without me?" Rolling her eyes, she grabbed Xander by the arm and the two of them ran down the hallway together.

6:14:45 A.M. PST

Jack's fists were balled up tightly as he lay across the table, sweat dripping from his face. "Soon, Jack," Nina's voice declared to him as the doppelganger leaned close, "none of this will matter. I'll be the only thing left."

Jack glared up at her with fury building. "I'll let you in on a little secret." Nina's smile stretched across the evil being's face. "I'm going to destroy everything. I'll find your friends… your family… Those sappy little love bunnies who helped you into this mess - I'll wring their necks. That little computer nerd with the big 'ol crush on her superhero Jack Bauer? I'll rip out her guts. The secret service won't be able to stop me when I slice open your Presidential pal." Those dark eyes burned into his face as it declared, "Your baby girl? Your little sweetheart? I'll finish her nice and slow."

Jack fiercely gazed at the monster standing over him as it beamed back. "As for Buffy?" it reminded him with a simple warning, "I'll make sure you two are together so you can watch her suffer. And Jack…" It smiled wide, staring deeply into his eyes. "I'll kill you last."

Nina's body stood nearby, watching him intently, waiting for some sort of response. There was none. Jack just stared up at her with a cold glare, the same that had been on his face for minutes. It straightened out and stared at him in confusion – it was as if he'd died and there was nothing but a body with an angry expression frozen on its face.

The truth was that he had died. Jack Bauer was gone.

Jack squeezed his fists together and with a simple jerk the steel bars popped like rubber bands. He sat up straight, without bending his spine, then he hopped on his feet, the ground nearly breaking beneath him. The Beast stepped back in awe, watching the monster be born before its eyes, with a significant look of worry on its face.

6:16:16 A.M. PST

Kwan nearly stumbled as he felt the ground beneath him tremble. An explosion on the lower level rocked the floor above. Vampires around him scurried as he rushed out of the main artillery room and into the corridor. Camouflage-wearing vampires ran past him as he stopped in the doorway to a stairwell which led below. Burning vampires ran up the staircase and collapsed in front of Paik, bursting into ash.

Kwan pulled himself away and bolted down the corridor into the nearest control room, grabbing the neck of a young vampire like he were picking a puppy up off of the ground. "Get in there!" he ordered, throwing the young vamp soldier inside the control room. "What caused that explosion? Show me!"

The nervous, young vampire glanced back at the dust-covered monitors and turned back to Kwan with uncertainty. "Do it now!" Kwan roared, and the vamp snapped into action. He began to switch on the monitors. "I want to see the lower level," said Kwan. "What's happening down there?"

After almost a half a minute of the vampire stumbling around the controls clumsily, the black-and-white screens came on featuring the burning lower level. The damage was unimaginable as the cameras searched from room to room for any sign of life or un-life. Finally, the camera found a young man with dark hair carrying a gun and a red-haired woman with a laptop running out of the safety of a panic room-type shelter which could withstand a bomb and control the rest of the Initiative as well.

"Damn them!" Kwan hissed. "Why are the Slayer's friends alive?" he snapped at the vampire.

The nervous, young male vampire looked up at his commanding officer with wide, unsure eyes. "Should… should w-we send troops after them?"

"No," he bit off bitterly. "Kill the Slayer. I'll take care of them."

6:19:56 A.M. PST

Buffy was in the middle of one of the vehicle storage garages with a battle axe in her hand as she swung it wildly at the barrage of vampires coming at her from all corners. She roundhouse-kicked one vampire out of the way, then sliced its head off before moving to the next where she buried the axe in its chest. Ripping it out, she back-kicked a vampire away from her which approached her from behind.

Sweat covered her face as she spun around swiftly, the axe flashing in the light, and delivered death to everything coming near her.

6:20:34 A.M. PST

Jack marched down the hallway moving every muscle individually. His eyes were completely emotionless, though a hurricane of dark emotions tore his insides apart. He was reaching the end of the corridor in the medical wing and was headed for one of the main control rooms.

"Where are you going?" a small voice called from ahead. In front of him, little Valencia Cortez stood holding her doll in her arms. Her wavy light brown hair fell around her face as she stared at him with eyes of innocence, but an unbeating heart of malice. He seemed to pay no attention to her as he continued to walk down the hall in her direction. She didn't fret – she knew how to get his attention.

"Daddy, are you leaving me?" Her fragile tone sounded like the cry of an abandoned kitten. "Why are you leaving?" she asked with a baby's voice. Jack continued to walk in a straight line at an unbroken pace, as if he couldn't hear a word she was saying. His eyes never met hers as he stared ahead fiercely – like she was an invisible being that he would walk right through.

Her spoiled frustration grew as she glared at him. "Fine," she pouted. "If you're not going to play nice…" Valencia's face mutated into a vampire's guise as the small demon roared and hissed, revealing sharp jaws, bright yellow eyes and a reptilian brow.

Jack was unaware of her completely and continued his path.

Angrily, she roared again and charged at Jack. When she was just a few yards away, she leapt off of the ground and practically flew through the air towards him, her jaws open wide. Without a thought, Jack snatched her little body out of the air. The child vampire buried her fangs into his forearm, piercing the tattoo Ramon Salazar had given to him.

He never flinched. He never blinked. He never even glanced down at his attacker. He just grabbed the child's head, her silky hair running through his fingers, and smashed it in his bare hands until it burst like a grape. Blood and dust covered his palms and fingers as he continued to walk towards the main corridor.

Jack reached the double doors which had been locked to protect the remaining vampires inside from outside demon attack. Bauer grabbed the steel blast doors and ripped them off the hinges as if he were tearing a page out of a book. The fifty or so vampire soldiers inside who were given no warning turned towards the intruder and the mangled steel doors in horror.

Panicking, they rushed Jack in attempts stop him. One-by-one, he discarded each of them in a merciless slaughter.

6:22:51 A.M. PST

Buffy killed the last vampire in sight and turned around to leave, taking off down a corridor before being stopped by a voice from behind. "Buffy Summers," a woman called with a thick Russian accent. Buffy turned around to see the beautiful yet threatening pale woman with long red hair standing behind him.

"What an interesting name," the Russian vampire declared. "I'll make it my own."

Buffy gave her an unimpressed look as she glanced the leather-wearing woman over once. "First," Buffy quipped, "you might want to work on making that outfit. Gotta tell you – the Matrix/Superhero look is out."

"I'll tear you apart," Vourdulak threatened with a grin.

Buffy glowered at her with a menacing tone, "Show me what you got, Natasha."

6:24:10 A.M. PST

Xander stood nearby in a control room as Willow sat at the computer desk with her laptop hooked into the mainframe. "C'mon, Will," Xander nervously pleaded as he held his gun close, aimed at the door. "What's taking so long?"

"Give me a break," she spat. "I don't think anyone's ever done this before… ever."

"Well, could you do it a little faster?" Xander asked, deeply worried, as he glanced over at Willow. "We don't have all—" Xander felt a rock-hard fist slam against his jaw, nearly shattering it. He hit the ground in less than a second as the gun fell away from him.

Willow looked over to see the bald, Asian vampire with sharp teeth glowering at them. "Xander!" Willow cried in horror. Kwan reached down and picked him up by his neck and threw him across the room, knocking him into a wall.

He collided into the plaster of the wall and stumbled about before falling to his knees. "All… all right," he groggily said as blood dripped from his lower lip. "That's enough, Lex Luth—"

Kwan buried his fist into Xander's gut, raising him off of the ground. He hooked Xander with his left fist and sent him falling back to the ground. The young man was leaned against the wall, sitting on the floor with a bloodied and bruised face. Kwan roared over him as the vampire stood up tall, ready for the kill.

Xander gazed up at Kwan in a daze. The vampire glowered down at him with a slight smile. "Never turn your face away from your enemies," he warned.

Xander glanced over to the back of the room, then back up at the vamp. "Tell you what, Kato," he quipped groggily, "never turn your back... on a genius." Kwan gazed at him in confusion, then spun around to see Willow holding the gun up. She pulled back the trigger and released a rain of bullets which sliced through Kwan's skull, neck and shoulders. Xander flattened himself beneath the rain until dust fell on top of him.

Willow held the gun in her hands with wide, stunned eyes as her chest heaved sporadically. Xander gazed up at her. "It's fine, Will," he replied. "You did it." Willow reached down and helped her best friend back onto his feet.

"See?" Xander smiled as he took the gun from her. "No matter what – even without magic – you'll always be able to save my ass."

Willow stared up at him as a small smile formed on her face. "God knows it'll always need saving," she agreed, then turned around and hopped back on the laptop.

6:26:13 A.M. PST

Buffy was thrown across the room and slammed head-first into the passenger door of a parked Jeep. She tumbled backwards and landed hard on her back as she saw the devilish vamp stalking towards her. Buffy rolled onto her hands and feet, blood dripping from her forehead, as she stared up at her enemy with bleary eyes.

"You've failed Slayer," Vourdulak declared coldly. "Just like all the others." Larissa raised Buffy's battle axe over her head and was about to bring it down on top of her when she froze. A lightning bolt of pain struck her suddenly motionless.

Buffy looked up to see Jack standing behind her with his hand sticking through the center of her back. With a snap, Jack yanked out his hand and the vampire's spine was tucked inside of it. Her body was reduced to rubber as it and the bones of her spine collapsed into a pillar of dust which rained down to the ground.

Buffy was overwhelmed with fright and amazement as she stared up with wide eyes. Quickly, she pushed herself into a stand before the mighty figure standing in front of her.
She glanced him over, studying the dust and blood of various demons that dripped from his face, neck, arms, hands and chest. It was as if he'd walked through a bloodbath. Buffy's eyes drifted upwards and found his, staring deeply into their depths. Inside of their green and blue hue, there was a being inside – one whose emotions fell between cruel, fiery rage burning within, but cold, ruthless indifference on the surface.

Her expression darkened and her heart began to beat with fear as the stranger in front of her glared at her coldly. Buffy was standing before an apathetic being with no heart and no soul who now had powers greater than hers which gave him no weakness. His blank, yet icy gaze bore through her, screaming with silence, causing her to back away. He was going to obliterate her and there would be no mercy.

Buffy would have been lost in that terrified, frozen state for a great deal longer had she not heard the intervention of a familiar voice. "Kill her," the male British-accent declared. With wide eyes and instant recognition, she turned her head to see Merrick standing near the wall with a smile on his face and his eyes flashing wide with anticipation. "Kill her now, son."

Buffy's brows rose as she turned back to Jack, hoping to get through his rock-solid mind. "Merrick was your father?"

Jack glared at her in silence for several seconds, then broke it with a single, anger-filled word. "You," he declared, sending chills through Buffy's spine. "You killed him. You took him away from me…"

"What?" Buffy exclaimed in shock. "Jack, that's… that's not true."

"Yes, it is," Merrick snapped. "Look at her – she knows it is."

Buffy turned away from Merrick and focused on Jack. "Listen, he died saving me. But… but I didn't kill him myself." She glanced back at Merrick momentarily. "I don't know what's going on here," she nervously stated, then declared with resolve, "but I do know one thing for sure. Merrick was a good man who believed in what he was fighting for – in what he died for. He would never be standing here telling you this. The real Merrick wouldn't."

"She's a fool!" Merrick barked, though obviously threatened. Jack stared at Buffy continuously, but his expression was slowly changing. The coldness was melting into confusion and loss.
"She's just a stupid little girl who never cared anything about her destiny!" Merrick raged. "Dispose of her like the garbage that she is." Buffy turned back to Merrick with an angry gaze as he continued, "My son, do not submit to this! You have a destiny! This is your destiny!" Buffy turned back to Jack and witnessed the turmoil inside of his eyes… the conscience she had thought disappeared was still there. "You are evil, Jack!" Merrick barked. "You always have been!"

"Jack," Buffy softly whispered, watching his struggle. Jack eyes were brimming with tears of rage and pain as he clenched his jaw and squeezed his fists. "Jack, look at me…" His eyes lifted off of the walls and found her sincere expression. "It's not Merrick," she shook her head apologetically. "He's gone."

"Don't listen to her!" Merrick shouted, desperately holding onto his sinking ship.

Jack glanced up at her with agony, begging for freedom. "You're not a monster," she pleaded. "You're a man. Fight this."

"Do not fight this!" Merrick hissed. "This is your destiny! We cannot change who we are!"

Buffy stared at him with a simple statement, "We are who we choose to be." Jack gazed at her in amazement as the chains were snapped. The two of them stared at each other in silence as the noises of the room around them drifted away.

Merrick suddenly morphed form and changed into Teri again, with flashing eyes full of spite and rage. The First hissed with venom on its tongue, "You will do as I say!"

Jack's eyes rolled from Buffy's face to the Beast standing on the other side of the room. Inside of them, there was not a blank coldness, but the man Jack Bauer who had returned for good. "Bored now."

With a crash, the windows around them burst as three dog-like demons barged into the room with jaws snapping fervently. Buffy scraped up her axe and swung it high overhead as one of the massive demon dogs trotted towards her. She brought the axe down on the skull of the demon, stopping it, then lifted it and brought it down repeatedly, chopping it to pieces as black goop flew everywhere. Once the axe snapped in her hands, she finally stopped to see that the beast was not yet dead but injured enough.

Dropping the broken weapon, Buffy turned around and was horrified to see Jack grab one of the beasts in his arms and crush every bone in its body with a squeeze. The floppy corpse was tossed across the room with superhuman strength, slapping a wall as it rolled down to the floor. Jack turned towards the other dog ready for the slaughter.

Buffy spun around in a panic, searching for a weapon. Was Jack really back? Glancing down on the ground, she found an abandoned M16 lying near a wall. The Slayer leapt for it and rolled across the ground, scooping it up just as she heard another fierce crack and the canine whimper of the mortally injured demon.

Buffy looked up to see another demon dog peeking in through the broken glass. She lifted the gun and aimed at the demon, unleashing bullets into its snout and eyes which killed it immediately. Behind her, she could hear Jack's footsteps rushing up behind her. The Slayer spun around and jumped onto her feet, aiming the gun at Jack who was only a few feet away by this point.

In a flash, he grabbed the barrel and crushed it in his hands, yanking it away from her. He glanced at the gun, then turned back to Buffy who was obviously scared and unsure of who was standing in front of her. "I thought you said that these weren't your style," he declared with a half-smile.

Buffy's eyes widened as a wave of relief crashed into her. He was definitely back. In her ecstatic joy, she threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly, a gesture which he returned with considerable more force. It had been a long time since he'd felt an embrace like that. "Uh," she coughed, "Jack… too tight." He released her immediately, allowing her to breathe.

She glanced around the room as the dead demons and the mangled gun on the ground. "Kinda impressive," she shrugged carelessly. "I mean I could have done this by myself." Buffy looked up at him with a half-smile that he mirrored.

"Well," said Jack, "it didn't look that way when you were getting your ass—"

Their untimely banter was cut short when Willow and Xander crashed into the room, colliding with them. "Ow!" Buffy grimaced. She and Jack looked Willow and Xander over – the two of them looking rabid with panic.

"It's going into lockdown!" Willow shouted. "We've got forty seconds!" Jack and Buffy glanced at each other in terror, then bolted with the other two out of the wall. They rushed through the maze of corridors miraculously finding their way back to the elevator.

Jack pounded the button and the doors shut as the elevator raced up the tunnel towards the fraternity house. Once the elevator came to a stop at the top, the doors opened and the four of them rushed out. A voice inside of the elevator declared, "Lockdown completed." Two steel blast doors in front of the elevator slammed home, sealing it off permanently. Buffy, Jack, Willow and Xander glanced at each other with expressions of relief.

6:44:29 A.M. PST

Newly reunited Xander and Anya rushed down the stairs of the basement where they found a sickly, yet calm Spike in a coma below. With a syringe in hand, Xander bit off the protective cap and stuck it into the glass vial in his hand. Anya wrapped a rubber tourniquet around Spike's bicep as Xander stuck the needle inside of Spike's vein and administered the antivirus.

Immediately, Spike's vitals began to look up as he stirred in his sleep. Anya looked over to Xander with a proud expression on her face. "You're really something else, you know that?" she smiled.

Xander shrugged sheepishly, then declared, "Just don't tell him."

6:47:39 A.M. PST

Dawn sat up in her hospital bed with Tara and Willow standing next to her, the two of them leaning on each other with exhaustion. Holding a phone to her ear with her lright hand, Dawn said with a tired smile. "Everything's going to be okay, Buffy," she reassured her. "The doctor said the bullet didn't do any major damage. My shoulder will be fine."

Buffy stood in the middle of her charred kitchen with the two pieces of her broken telephone in her hand and on her ear. "Are you sure?" Buffy asked nervously. She had cleaned the blood off of her forehead, but a long cut added to the bruises and nicks around her face and body. "Just wait a few minutes, I'm going to be there. I'm already on my way."

"Uh," Dawn interrupted her apologetically. "You can go anywhere you want, but I'm going to sleep. Sorry, sis." Buffy could hear Willow and Tara's amused laughs over the phone and couldn't help but smile despite herself.

"I'm really proud of you, Dawn," she warmly declared. "Very proud."

"Well," Dawn half-shrugged, "I did take a bullet in the shoulder for you guys, but hey – on the upside for me – this means I get to miss school." A flash of memory smacked her in the head, "Which reminds me, Buffy – I'm gonna need a note. There's an English paper due that I'm really not gonna get around to tonight."

Buffy let out a soft chuckle as she rolled her eyes. "You got it," she smiled. "Get some rest."

6:50:18 A.M. PST

Teri's feet walked over broken glass and severed limbs as the First surveyed the damage inside the Initiative. Walking through the boardroom which overlooked the base outside of a window, it stood in peaceful silence. The base was now sealed up, it would take years of work to ever open it up. Or maybe just a visit to some army general's home one night in the form of their deceased mother.

But what would be the point? What the First needed had already been gained. Enough energy, both evil and benign, had been kicked into the air. The Slayer had come back to life, which threw the Slayer line completely out of whack and the Powers that Be had another Champion with new powers. One just as great, if not greater than the Slayer herself. There were bigger things to plan.

"Help us," a shaky voice said from behind. The First as Teri turned around and viewed a camouflage-wearing vampire with a missing arm and half a leg as he crawled in through the door. Beside him, there was a bloody vamp solider with his tongue ripped out and both legs removed at the pelvis – both of them victims of Jack's rage.

The First glanced them over and considered the damage of the evil still living inside of Jack's heart. Not bad, it thought.

"Help us get out of here… please…" the armless vampire cried.

Teri's eyes stared at them with a motherly apology. "But why? You're finished."

This caused panic in both vampires. "You're finished, too!" the armless one angrily spat. "Everything's gone—"

"According to plan," the First grinned. "For me," Teri's smile widened, "it's just the beginning." The First turned around and began to walk towards the shadows.

"You can't just leave us here!" the vampire shouted. "We'll starve!"

"Oh really?" the First replied, glancing back to them with surprise. The concern in Teri's face melted away instantly as it glowered and cruelly declared, "That sounds like a personal problem to me."

Backing into the shadows, the First disappeared, leaving dozens of vampires and demons trapped inside the Initiative to die a slow death.

6:54:49 A.M. PST

Jack sat on the front porch steps of the Summers' home with a towel in his hands. He had wiped most of the blood off and his wounds were already cleaned and patched up. He looked over to his shoulder which had been pierced by a bullet just an hour before as he peered through the hole in his black shirt.

With confusion he stared at his flesh in silence. The wound had disappeared, leaving a scar behind. It had already healed. He pulled his fingers and his gaze away and he looked out at the pink sky over the quaint neighborhood around him.

There was a calm breeze that floated through the little homes and found him, and a gentle warmth inside that reassured him that though everything was about to change again, it would ultimately be okay. His multicolored eyes found the spotted blood on the once-white cloth in his hands and studied it for several seconds.

Jack Bauer's father was a watcher. A great one, according to Buffy. All of his life he pictured some monster, the blood of which running through Jack's veins, and like some curse he had forced Jack into becoming such a cunning killer. But it wasn't Merrick's doing, or anyone else's. Jack Bauer, the hero and the killer, were the same person and were a result of Jack's own choices.

He thought back to before when he thought the real Teri was standing over him, asking him, "Why do you fight?" Before, he hadn't had an answer. For years, he didn't really need one. Because I choose to, he thought to himself, mulling over Buffy's definitive statement as well. We are who we choose to be.

"Hey," Buffy's voice chimed in from behind. Jack turned around and saw her standing in the open doorway of her mutilated house.

"Hey," he responded kindly. Tiredly, she walked over to the steps of the porch and plopped down beside him, gazing out at the street in front of her house and the pinkish-yellow sky above them. Their elbows on their knees, they waited for the rising sun in the distance.

"Your friends called," Buffy began, "from a secured line, of course. So I took it upon myself to give them a short recap, tell them you're okay, thank them for everything, and… I figured they wouldn't be calling back."

"No," Jack shook his head with a bittersweet expression. "They won't be." Buffy watched him with a slight sense of pity as she turned back towards the house.

"I'd offer you breakfast," she added, "but I'd say everything's already cooked… unless you like blackened cereal."

A small smile formed. "Damage is that bad, huh?"

"I have no idea how I'm going to pay for this," she sighed. "I had enough trouble just paying for the house itself."

Jack gazed down at the ground with a small expression of mischief. "Maybe they'll give you a half-off discount," he responded, "now that you only have half a house." He looked over at her with a smirk at which she was stunned.

"Did hard-ass Jack Bauer just make a joke?" she grinned. "I think he did."

He shrugged, relaxed. "Maybe I know one or two numbers you can call."

"Thanks," Buffy rejected in disbelief, "but unless one of those numbers belongs to the Allstate guy, I'm pretty much screwed."

"How about an ex-President?" Jack asked, glancing back at her. She stared at him, impressed.

"Oh," she answered. "Well. I am in good hands." They both shared another smile and then they turned back towards the sky just as the newborn sun was rising over the hills. They watched it majestically with awe as Buffy let out a sigh. "Long night," she breathed.

Jack nodded, then declared with a tone of apology and warning, "It's not over, you know." Buffy let her eyes fall to the ground with a somber tone. "That thing… whatever it was," Jack stated, "it's not finished."

"I know," Buffy replied. "It's not over for you, either." She looked down at his non-injuries and the blood on the towel. "There's no way to make sure that the Rambo-juice is gone. It may be something that you live with your whole life." With another sigh, she said with optimism as she began to come to a stand, "But that's a bridge that we'll cross if it starts to collap—"

"I'm leaving," he declared abruptly. Buffy looked over at him with wide eyes and sat back down, stunned.

"What?"

He shook his head. "I have to go, Buffy."

"Why?" she declared in shock. "I-I don't understand…"

"I came here and I lied to you, and your friends, and the whole world because some bad people were trying to kill me," Jack explained simply. "Well, you know the truth now… and you're not safe." She turned away from him angrily, fixating her cold gaze on the burned grass in front of the steps. Jack stared at her contritely and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Sooner or later, they'll come for me like they did tonight. I don't want you and your family to get hurt."

Buffy stared down at the grass, then looked up at the sky with a bitter expression. "You're probably right," she said. "They'll come for you." She turned to him with resolve. "They always will. Wanna know why? Because you're the only one." Jack stared at her with confusion as she explained, "One thing I've learned from being the Slayer is that you can't escape who you are." She turned to him and stared through him firmly, "Maybe your name's James Dawson, but Jack Bauer is who you were born to be." He stared at her with humility and listened to her plea with a grateful heart.

"You are a hero," she declared with firm belief. "And a friend. You don't have to run away from that. Or run away from a life." Maybe he was crazy, maybe it was just some over-emotional moment, but Jack Bauer stared at this young woman whom he had met a mere twelve hours before and felt like he was talking with his long-dead wife once again.

He gazed at her thankfully with a warm smile, and Buffy noted his change in manner. "What?" she asked in confusion.

"Nothing," he said, shaking his head. "You just… remind me of someone." They glanced over to see the sun fully risen, the start of a new day. "Thank you," he declared to her. Buffy turned back to him in confusion. "For today." They stared at each other like old friends as the new sunlight warmed the town of Sunnydale and pushed back the blanket of the bleak night that lay behind them.

She came to a stand, brushing off her jeans. "Well, James. Breakfast. How about it?"

"Yeah," he said, staring out at the bright yellow sky as she walked to the front door. "Oh, and Buffy?" She turned back around and faced him. He glanced back at her with a smile of satisfaction and peace.

"Call me Jack."


6:59:58…

6:59:59…

7:00:00

THE END

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