Chloe knew trouble when she heard a cheerful voice declaring loudly, "I got all the clearance I need. You can check your records." There was only one person in the world that could break into the CTU in broad daylight with the security guards knowing she was there. Unfortunately, that person was Fauve.
After the early morning phone call, Chloe had caught a few hours of sleep before heading into work. Homeland Security had begun, what she considered, their hostile takeover complete with trying to refurbish the system Chloe designed. Somehow that coffee-drinking jerk had managed to crash the entire CTU server, totally prohibiting anything from getting done. On top of that, neither Jack nor Audrey had showed.
Fauve sauntered over to Chloe's station with a huge grin on her face as the red-shirted guards fluttered around her protesting the intrusion. They were about as effective as the psychotic cardinals they resembled in stopping Fauve's progress. "Heya, Chloe," she said cheerfully. "I'm here to abduct you."
Hunching over, Chloe pursed her lips together and stared straight ahead at her computer screen. The cold shoulder had never worked in the past, and didn't seem to be working now. With a condescending shake of her head, Fauve perched on the edge of the desk next to Chloe. "You know, you should probably be screaming for help."
The flat look Chloe gave her friend spoke volumes. "When I need help, I'll let you know."
Fauve grinned. "That's where you're wrong, honey." The computer screen went black. Chloe jerked over and stared at Fauve, knowing that the other woman was somehow responsible. With an innocent grin, Fauve continued, "You need a vacation. And since that bitch with a corncob up her ass that's in charge won't give you one, I'm kidnapping you." She patted Chloe's shoulder. "We're going to my mom's."
The few sputtered protests that Chloe managed to get out were ignored as Fauve stuffed the laptop and a few other items into a bag. Snatching Chloe's coat from where it rested on the back of the chair, she slung the duffel over her shoulder and shoved the coat into the protesting woman's hands. "You're not going to win," she told Chloe as she hauled the other woman to her feet and began to herd her reluctant victim through the mass of security guards that had some how coagulated without actually stopping the Hawaiian's impromptu felony. "So you might as well smile."
The other various IT people and support staff stared in confusion and amusement. It wasn't everyday a hippie with multi-colored hair came to drag away your senior IT person.
"Chloe," Bill Buchanan's voice reached the programmer's ears like a message from God. Chloe tried to stop or to pull away from the arm Fauve had wrapped around her waist.
Dark eyes glanced up into hers. "Don't stop," Fauve order with an evil smile. "Keep thinking about the beach and ocean and Mom's cooking." When those words had no effect on her friend Fauve changed tactics. "Think about it as a few weeks away from all your co-workers, specifically one Jack Bauer."
At that the half-hearted struggles ended. Hesitantly Chloe met Fauve's gaze. A slow, wicked smile began to spread over her lips as the two friends communicated without words. She had been fielding everyone else's shit since the nerve gas thing. In the last couple of days she'd been yelled at, sworn at, threatened by, practically assaulted by, and totally ignored arbitrarily. She deserved a vacation, and those Homeland idiots could clean up their own mess. One of Chloe's arms slid around Fauve's waist. "We need to drop by my apartment so I can pack."
"Already, done," Fauve reassured her. "Our flight leaves in a half-hour."
A pleasant thought, "Good," Chloe muttered in satisfaction. To paraphrase something Fauve had told her once, she was so outta here they wouldn't hear the sonic boom.