Author's Note: To give credit where it's due, Jass wrote the fuzzy part. I can't do fuzzy, but she keeps my story chugging along anyways.
With a mysterious smile, Fauve patted Jack on the shoulder. "That's between me, Bill, and the powers that be. You on the other hand, have a more immediate problem."
Jack winced, then groaned. "What am I going to tell Audrey?"
Not the least bit sympathetic Fauve leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms over her chest. "Whatever you say, it better be good." Her voice was deceptively calm. "So far I've been playing nice because I don't want to upset Chloe. But this is your last chance, buddy, and a chance you don't deserve." The ominous Cheshire smile spread across her face once more. When she continued, her voice was so low Jack had to lean forward to hear her. "Fuck this up and I will take Chloe away from you forever. And when she's off somewhere she is appreciated and loved, I will make your life living Hell." The smiled widened when Jack gave her a skeptical look. "By the time I finished, you'll be strapped into a strait jacket in a padded room being treated by men in white coats. To top it off, I'll make sure I'm your shrink."
There were very few things that truly terrified Jack Bauer to the point of dysfunction. This tiny, brown woman was rapidly nearing the top of that list. He swallowed nervously and turned his gaze on the sleeping Chloe. Unconsciously, he moved her closer to him. The real question was whether or not he needed the extra coercion.
From her passively aggressive position, Fauve had to work to conceal her pleasure at the man's response. When he looked at her friend, his eyes and movements gentled. Previously, she'd noticed he had a tone of voice reserved specifically for the analyst, one much softer than his usual hoarse commands. All she had to do was keep him from second-guessing himself. Once Chloe was his, he wouldn't let go if he had to go through all seven levels of Hell to get her back. That was sort of man he was. And if that valium she'd slipped into his orange juice would kick in...
Jack had dozed off again. This was probably the most he had slept, consistently, in quite a while, and he seemed determined to get as much out of the precious time he had as he could. Fauve waited until he'd fallen to the point where he wouldn't wake up at the smallest of noises, and then smirked.
Reaching over, she gave a small tug on one of Chloe's blonde strands. The petite woman didn't respond, but Fauve did note that her finger twitched. The Hawaiian grinned impishly.
"Come on, Chloe." she teased, softly. "I know you're faking it."
Dropping her charade, the analyst's eyes peeked open and met her friend's gaze. They shared a brief look, before Fauve asked, "How long've you been awake?"
"Long enough to hear you threaten Jack with your psychiatric care." She paused, and then added thoughtfully, "God forbid."
Fauve made a face. "I'll pretend I didn't hear that."
They shared a smile, before Chloe gave a small noise of content in the back of her throat and Fauve smirked, "Aw, you look so cozy!" Chloe smacked her, as best she could based on her position, still curled up on top of Jack. Not that she was complaining. It felt nice; safe and comfortable. She hadn't felt this secure in a long time. Hell, she couldn't remember a time when she had felt so secure. A part of her worried about that: the rational part of her that said, loudly, that when all this was over things would go back to the way they were before, and she would have to forget the feeling of safety; force herself to go back to her less-than-satisfactory life, watching in envy as Audrey and Jack went on with their almost-perfect life.
But, there was a part of her that spoke softly, almost masked by the screaming logical side, but obviously there. A small part that told her that Fauve would make things better, like she always did, and that maybe- just maybe- she'd be able to fit herself snuggly into Jack's life. (Right in-between the space marked 'Saving the country' and the place reserved for 'Fighting one's inner demons', so long as she could push Audrey out of there first. Or maybe she'd find a nice, open space she could fill up all on her own, without having to push her way into it. That would be nice.)