Chloe O'Brien stood in the bathroom running a washcloth over her eyes. The cooling sensation alone helped her feel better, more together. She couldn't believe she had fallen apart like that, in front of Tony and Michelle. It was… unprofessional to say the very least. She carefully hung the cloth on the rack by the sink and studied her face in the mirror. There was something she didn't recognize, a hollowness that worried her. The familiarity of the look took her by surprise. It was the same look that had been on Chase Edmunds' face just hours earlier. It was surrender, the look of giving up.

No. I won't. I can't. At least, not yet.

Chloe shook herself and steeled her face back to its usual even, yet stern expression. Aside from her reddened eyes, you wouldn't believe she had been crying hysterically less than half an hour ago. Taking one final deep breath, she exited the bathroom and turned down the hall to return to the living room. As she reached the end of the hallway, her friends' voices made her pause.

"Tony, you just said it yourself, a call from Jack wouldn't do this to her. If he were in trouble, he would just deal with it, like he always does. He wouldn't involve Chloe; the exposure would be too great."

Chloe could hear the frustration in Tony Almeida's voice as he replied to his wife, "I know, I know. It's just I've never seen Chloe so… And I can't figure out who could throw her into a panic like that. I mean, this is Chloe we're talking about here."

"But what if I'm right? What if it is Chase she's talking about? Chloe said 'he' several times, and they were good friends before he left CTU." Michelle Dessler sighed.

Tony didn't reply, and Chloe stayed out of sight.

"Tony, we both know Kim's been having problems. But this could be a good thing; if Chase is finally reaching out for help then maybe we can…"

"He doesn't want help. At least not the kind you're talking about." Chloe stepped out of the hall.

Tony turned from the window he had been staring out of, and Michelle rose from the couch. She was about to cross over to Chloe, but she stopped Michelle with a gesture. "I'm fine now. Sorry about that… thing you saw. I'm not usually-"

Tony shook his head. "Nothing to apologize for. You've been under a lot of pressure. Michelle and I could be helping more with-"

"With what?" Chloe challenged, shaking her head. "It's not like either of you have security clearances anymore, so you're no good to Jack if he gets in trouble, it also makes you pretty useless in making sure no one at CTU finds out what we did." Chloe began to cross toward the window where Tony stood. "And President Palmer still makes headlines whenever he crosses a room, so it's not like he can help with all the sneaking around."

Michelle started to speak, but Chloe kept going. "Besides, you guys deserve this. You deserve your life here, away from all of this. And Jack would agree with me, you know he would, so that's it, really."

Chloe crossed back to the chair she had been sitting in earlier, and chose to ignore the looks that Tony and Michelle had been exchanging. She could see the concealed smiles as they realized that the "normal" no-nonsense Chloe had returned. She sat down and waited until they had done the same.

"OK, I guess you're right. But that still-"

"Tony, it doesn't change anything. I'm the only one in a position to do it, so I'm doing it. That's it. I just need help figuring out what to do with this… new situation that's been dropped on me."

Michelle fixed Chloe with her gaze, at the same time sympathetic and resolute. "What happened, and what do you need from us."

Chloe took another deep breath, and quickly sketched in what Chase had told her. Chase finding Kim on the couch, his ultimatum, Kim's avoidance of the issue and the arguments they were having, and she finished with Chase's decision to leave Kim and move in with his sister for awhile.

Michelle sat there, on the couch, looking down, absently playing with a curl that had pulled out of the ponytail she was wearing. She let out a small sigh when Chloe was finished. But then there was Tony.

Tony's reaction surprised her. He sat next to his wife, his face an almost unreadable mask and when Chloe was finished he rose and returned to the window he had been looking out before.

"Her father's daughter…" Tony's voice trailed off.

"What do you mean?" Michelle asked. Her husband remained silent. "Tony?"

Tony turned to face Michelle. "You never saw Jack at his worst, after his wife was killed… What you saw the day he came back, Michelle, when President Palmer called him back- that was a vast improvement over what I'd seen the last time I saw him. That man, you would cross the street to avoid." Running a hand over his eyes, he turned to Chloe. "Mason sent me to his place about three months after Teri died; some follow-up nonsense.

'Jack let me in without too much fuss. He looked like he hadn't slept since the funeral, had hardly eaten, just… rough, beaten. There was this emptiness… I think… it scared me a bit." Tony paused, collecting his thoughts, "Chloe, can I ask you something?"

"Um, OK."

"When Chase found Kim, was there anything else in the room, on the coffee table, by her hand..?"

Chloe thought back to her lunch. Chase had been so upset, he'd gone over the moment when he'd found Kim with the gun several times. Chloe tried to push her own anger and anguish aside and just think about the words he had used.

"I can still see her, Chlo. I don't want to, but I see her lying there and I can't push it away. And she looks so old, especially next to the kid in that damn picture she had."

Chloe furrowed her brow, "How did you know there was something else?"

"Like I said, her father's daughter. It was a picture wasn't it? Probably the one with her and her parents. It was taken shortly before Teri died."

"Yeah, that one. Chase said it was on the coffee table, she'd spend hours just looking at it. But still, how-"

"When I went to see Jack, he offered me a drink. He went up into the kitchen area, and I was standing next to his desk. One of the drawers was partially open. On top of some papers were that picture, and a handgun. Loaded. Safety off."

Michelle gasped, "What did you do?"

"Nothing. I just closed the drawer all the way, and didn't say anything. I don't think Jack even knew I saw it at the time."

"Tony!"

"I know! Believe me, you have no idea how many hours I spent lying awake wondering when, if… So I went back a week later, and called him on it."

Chloe jumped in, "And?"

"He told me he was tempted. He'd open the drawer and pick up the gun. Feel its weight; imagine everything just ending, all the pain, the guilt. He said the picture was there to remind him that there was still someone who needed him alive. Even if Kim wasn't talking to him at the time." Tony's voice dropped to almost a whisper, "God, what Kim must think when she sees that picture, now. I almost wonder if she's using it to steel herself up for-"

"Tony!" Michelle gasped.

"I know, Michelle. I know. But maybe Chase is right; maybe leaving will shake her up enough to snap her back into the present instead of dwelling on the past."

"I doubt it, Tony."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because it didn't work on you."

Chloe shifted nervously in her seat, she'd never heard Michelle reference her divorce from Tony like that. And the parallel between the two situations took her by surprise.

Michelle continued, holding Tony's gaze with her own, "I know how Chase feels, watching someone he loves fall apart. And believe me; I sympathize with wanting to shock her into, something. But, Tony, you know she'll just fall farther into her depression, and, honestly, I don't think Kim has any friends that would get backed into a gunfight and…"

"Um, guys, memory lane is really nice and depressing and all, but this isn't helping me." Chloe looked at both Tony and Michelle, pulling them back into the matter at hand.

"Sorry, Chloe." Michelle shook herself turned back to her friend. "You said Chase was asking you for Carol's number, is that-"

"Please, Carol's at the Pendleton near the park; I already knew that in case Jack asked about her next time I called him. Getting the number is easy, that's not what I need help with."

"Well, Chloe, since you've already pointed out our uselessness, what do you need help with?" Tony came closer to Chloe and sat on the edge of the coffee table in front of her. "I mean, Michelle and I could talk to Kim-"

"Oh, God, no! Tony, don't go and see her, she's a mess and you'll make it worse."

"I figured that after she threatened me with a restraining order last time I went over to check on her, but what do you need us to do?"

Michelle nodded. "Anything Chloe, what can we do?"

You're going to hate me for this.

"Chloe?" Michelle asked softly.

"I'm going to talk to Kim and Chase and I need you to help me figure out what to say."

She could see the confusion on their faces, and Tony asked the question on both their minds, "Talk to them about what, Chloe?" His voice had changed from concerned to cautious.

Taking a deep breath, Chloe looked Tony straight in the eye, "I told you before, I can't do this anymore, all the lies. I'm done.

'I'm telling them Jack's alive."