Chloe O'Brien put her car into park and just sat in the driver's seat for a few minutes. Staring out the windshield, she realized she was shaking. Fine tremors had spread from her hands to her whole body and Chloe realized she was very close to having an actual panic attack. Taking several deep breaths, she slowly began to try and calm herself down and go over everything again before she did anything rash.

She and Chase Edmunds had talked for over an hour, and all the details of his current situation had finally come into focus. Kim Bauer was a lot worse off than Chloe had anticipated. She was far worse than even Tony Almeida had thought she might be, based on what he knew about her after her mother's murder. The more and more Chase told her, the harder it became for Chloe to reconcile the image Chase was painting with the Kim Chloe knew.

Chloe had actually seen Kim about a month after her father's funeral; she had come to CTU so Buchanan could tell her in person that the official inquiry into her father's death was going to be closed and what the final findings were. They hadn't said anything more than "Hello," and exchanged a few pleasantries, but she had seemed OK then. Tired, still grieving, but on the whole, pretty together. But according to Chase, that's when she really started to fall apart.

Chloe had never really been involved in the official inquiry beyond answering the questions she was asked and making sure nothing could point back to her or her co-conspirators. At the time, she was more worried about making sure the false IDs she had set up for Jack were solid, and in taking care of her friend Andrew, who had been injured in all of the insanity during the chaos of that day. Sometime during the investigation, she knew, some eager beaver trying to score points with Secretary Heller had floated the theory that the phone call Jack had gotten right before he "tried to escape" was actually a warning of some sort. What Chloe didn't know was that the Secretary, wanting to spare Kim the shame of knowing her father died trying to run away from prosecution, had passed the theory on. Kim had latched onto it, but when Buchanan denied everything, calling the phone call nothing more than a coincidence, she had nothing left to hold onto. Jack ran, he died. She was an orphan. End of story.

The nightmares Kim had just started getting over returned with a vengeance. She became increasingly paranoid about Chase's job. He had been the head of the security force for a large, affluent business complex full of info tech companies, a couple of dot coms, and a few private businesses. He was required to be armed, but he hadn't pulled a gun in the line of duty since he'd left CTU. He once jokingly told Chloe that the most dangerous part of his job were the lawyers in the north building. But to Kim, it was still security, protection, enforcement, and therefore, danger. So he left that job and found one in a smaller company, one closer to home and that didn't require a gun, so he could be there for Kim more. It didn't help.

She stopped sleeping, and was barely eating. She withdrew from Chase, closing herself off like she was afraid he was going to hurt her. The only thing that could draw her out was his daughter, Angela. But Chase said even that was a double-edged sword, as she was increasingly worried about leaving her with the sitter, or taking her out in public. She seemed afraid someone would take her as she had been taken.

Chase had tried to get her help, but like her father, she stubbornly insisted she didn't need it. She'd work it out on her own. Chase said she had good days, good weeks even, but as time progressed, those good days were getting fewer and farther between. And the more he pressed her to get help, the more she pulled away, accusing him of trying to control her, or of not trusting her anymore. He said the phrase, "You're not my father," had been shouted more than once.

She started to have a drink in the evenings to try and help her sleep, sometimes two, or three. And then there was the day Chase had found her on the couch. He hadn't known she had been drinking during the day. The thought of Kim alone in the house with his daughter, drinking, terrified him. The potential for disaster… So he issued an ultimatum. Get help, or he was leaving her. Alone. He was taking his daughter somewhere Kim couldn't put her in danger, intentionally or otherwise. He would walk away.

And Chloe knew she could stop it. All she had to do was tell them the truth.

She looked down at her hands and realized she was still shaking. I can't do this alone. I need help.

Chloe picked up her phone and called CTU. "Buchanan."

"Sir, it's Chloe… I kinda need to take the rest of the day off."

There was a pause and could hear the concern in his voice when he asked, "Chloe, is something wrong? Do you need help?"

"No, I just need to take care of something and it really needs to be this afternoon. I don't have any priority work that Edgar can't handle right now and Agent Tyler isn't supposed to check in until tomorrow. Curtis has all the satellite footage he needs to plan the Sandovar raid, and that isn't going live until tonight, and besides that's not really mine anyway I was just helping-"

"Chloe, enough. If you need the afternoon, you can have it. I trust you. So long as you're reachable by phone, I'm sure we'll be fine. Can you tell me what this is about?"

Oh, what the hell. Chloe thought. Let's tell the truth for once. "It's about Kim Bauer, sir. And I'd really rather not talk about it, I just need to take care of it."

"Did she find out about the surveillance?"

"No." Thank God. "She doesn't know the Chinese had her under surveillance. It's just, personal. It's... personal."

"All right, then. Take the afternoon; let me know if you need tomorrow as well. If Kim needs something, I want to make sure she gets it."

"Thank you, sir."

"Call if you need anything."

Chloe's shaking subsided a bit and she took another deep breath. After a few more minutes, when she felt she had herself under more control, she stepped out of the car and looked at the house she had parked in front of. She had driven here directly from the café without even thinking. She didn't have anywhere else to go.

She locked her car and started up the walk. Just before she reached the door, it swung open.

"We were taking bets as to how much longer you were going to sit out there." Tony Almeida said, motioning her inside. Chloe entered the home wearily, still trying to figure out exactly what she was going to say. Tony's wife, Michelle Dessler, was standing at the kitchen island, making a cup of tea.

"Who won?" Chloe asked absently. Tony took her coat and set it on a chair.

"She did," Tony smiled, "she usually does."

Michelle arched an eyebrow at Tony as she crossed the floor and handed Chloe the cup of tea. "You looked like you needed this, come on in and have a seat." Chloe took comfort in the idea that they had been watching her, but hadn't intruded. She guessed they remembered how much she hated being interrupted.

Chloe allowed her former bosses to lead her into the living room, and she almost missed the concerned look they shared over her head as she sat down. Almost. Tony and Michelle sat together on the couch next to Chloe's chair. She cradled the tea in her hands without drinking. They were still trembling.

After another shared look, Michelle began hesitantly, "Chloe, does Bill know you're here?"

"I called him from the car."

Another look. Chloe could see the unasked questions in their eyes, and the fact that they almost seemed afraid to ask them told Chloe how bad she must look. Their concern was written on their faces. It made her slightly uncomfortable. She set the tea on the coffee table in front of her and let her eyes wander the room. She had never been to their home, she could see the entrance to their shared home office off the living room and it triggered a random thought.

"How's business? Must be nice, not having to go into an office everyday."

"Chloe, what's-" Tony began, but Chloe cut him off by standing suddenly. She couldn't take their worried gazes anymore- she had to move.

"I can't do this anymore. I'm sorry, but I really can't. All the lying, the sneaking around. I just can't." Chloe bolted across the room, the panic she'd been fighting driving her to pout out her thoughts. "Everyone trusts me. Everyday I go to work with people who trust me and I lie to them. I'm stealing government resources to help a dead man, and I'm a federal agent. I'm watching one of my oldest friends, someone I've known longer than you guys, longer than him, tear himself apart and I'm sitting there lying to his face. He's coming to me for help with something that's MY FAULT, and I'm lying, over and over, and… and… he's my friend, I've had his life in my hands, and all I have to do is tell him-"

"Chloe!" Tony crossed the room to her and put his hands on her crossed arms. He leaned down, locked her tear-filled eyes with his, and spoke softly. "Chloe, you need to slow down." He began to gently rub his hands on her arms, like he was comforting a frightened child, and he slowly led her back to the couch and sat her next to Michelle.

Tony sat on the coffee table in front of her, and took her shaking hands in his. But when she felt Michelle's arm reach over her shoulder in comfort, Chloe gave up. Here with her friends, with the people she didn't have to lie to, she could let go. She began sobbing uncontrollably, all of the frustration of the last few weeks and the worry of the last few months came pouring out. Michelle simply held her as she shook with the power of the pain she had been holding inside.

No words were spoken, and the only sound was Chloe's grief.