3.00pm, Factory, outskirts of Los Angeles

The fire was starting to become manageable now, and the clouds of smoke had begun to recede, although there was still a fairly large tower of black smoke over the now destroyed building. As hoses of water were forced onto the flames, onlookers from behind a cordon watched with awe as the fire fighters brought the fire under control.

3.05pm, road west of Los Banos, California

Another stop had been taken, and Alex was once more on the phone to CTU. He had no idea what was going on back in LA, and so these calls were the only link he had to CTU until he got to San Jose.

"There's not been much change from earlier, Alex. I mean, we've got a few new leads and Jack and Nina have been to Visalia and that's been rather successful. I've called CTU San Jose, and they're expecting you there after you drop off Kim, Megan and Miguel," Michelle informed him

"OK. Look, what's going to happen to her once the threat has been stopped?," Alex asked, careful not to mention Nina's name even though the other three could not hear him.

"She'll probably be brought back to CTU until a flight to the arranged exile destination can be arranged," Michelle informed him. Alex was hoping that he could talk to her before she left the United States, and have another chance to try and get through to the old Nina.

"What about Jack? He's probably gonna try something if he can, and to be honest, I would be surprised if he didn't take the first chance he got," Alex asked.

"She'll have guards with her at all times until she leaves CTU. Up until today, all I knew about her was from what you, Tony and others have said about her, and now I've seen her, heard her and even got a fairly good idea of what sort of person she is. I can't understand why she is the way she is," Michelle spoke. Nina Myers was something of a dark legend around CTU branches across the country, and nearly every CTU agent who had ever worked with her or had any sort of connection to her had been investigated in the months after her arrest, Alex included. Noone else was arrested, though, and the investigations soon ended.

"She wasn't always like this, Michelle. Maybe one day, I'll tell you about our childhood and how she was before the arrest. It's as if she's a whole different person," Alex replied sadly.

3.15pm, aiport, Visalia, California

As Jack, Nina, Faheen and the two FBI agents entered the plane, Jack instructed Nina and Faheen to sit on certain seats. He wanted to keep them as much under control as possible, and hoped that they could use the flight to try and get something out of Faheen, especially as they knew that Nina was right – bringing him to CTU LA and bringing him further into the system would only make things worse for them. Sitting down himself, Jack began to sort out the communications equipment they were to use to keep in touch with CTU.

"Hi Jack, it's Michelle," Michelle spoke as Jack called CTU.

"I can hear you perfect, Michelle. How are Alex and Kim doing?," Jack asked, and Nina's attention temporarily turned to Jack at the mention of her brother's name in the same sentence as that of Jack's daughter.

"They're about an hour away from San Jose. Alex is coming back here as soon as he can," Michelle replied, and Jack was relieved to hear the news. His daughter would be safely in San Jose thanks to Alex.

3.15pm, road west of Los Banos, California

Alex was trying not to think about Nina, but it was hard as she seemed to be strongly involved with the events that were going on. The moment earlier when he had seen her being brought into CTU was the first time since he had visited her in jail, where they were separated by a thick sheet of plexiglass and communicated via telephone. There had a long gap of about eight months where she had refused to see anyone, and Alex had never found out why. Kim looked at him and saw that he seemed troubled.

"Is everything OK, Alex?," Kim asked, and Alex was snapped out his train of thought.

"Yeah, I'm just concerned about this threat. I've never had to work to stop such a massive threat before," Alex replied.

3.20pm, Aunt Carol's house, San Jose

Tall, skinny, with the same curly brown hair and blue eyes that her sister had, Carol O'Neill was the aunt that Kim was hoping to see in about an hour. Carol was waiting anxiously in her living room, watching the news for anything out of Los Angeles. All she knew was that there was a threat in Los Angeles, that CTU were taking care of it, and that her niece was travelling north to stay with her until the threat was over. Single and unmarried, Carol lived alone with a pair of cats, and it was the life she preferred. Teri had always been the outgoing, popular one whilst she was the bookish kid who wanted nothing more than to sit in a quiet place and read. Petting one of her cats, a black male called Charcoal, she looked at the clock. She had been told that along with Kim, there was also her boyfriend and a young girl she was looking after, and that Alex Myers was driving them to San Jose. She had only met Alex once, at Teri's funeral, and was glad that he was there for Kim.

3.25pm, plane south of Visalia, California

Jack looked over at Nina and Faheen, who were quietly conversing in Arabic. Asking Michelle what they saying was useless, as their voices were too low. He looked at Faheen, who appeared to be halfway through a monologue, and it looked as if he was telling Nina something very crucial.

"Nina, what did he tell you?," Jack asked, and a glint of cruelty flashed in her eyes. Slowly and discreetly removing a broken gift card that she had stolen from Faheen's shop, she quietly removed her harness.

"Everything," Nina replied, and before anyone could react, she pounced at Faheen and slashed open his throat with the gift card. The last thing Faheen saw was Nina grinning at him as his vision blurred, before she was restrained by one of the FBI agents.

"He's dead, Jack," the other agent informed him, kneeling close to Faheen's body.

As Faheen's body grew cold on the floor of the plane, and as the spooked FBI agents looked at Jack and Nina with shock, Nina was very satisfied with herself. She had taken out the only other person who could have helped CTU stop the nuke, and now she was able to once more take control of the situation.

3.35pm, road west of Los Banos, California

"Did CTU say anything about what my father was doing?," Kim asked Alex.

"No, but he's probably following up on a lead somewhere. CTU seem to be quite confident that they'll find this nuke long before it can be used to harm anyone," Alex replied. He could only imagine what was happening with Jack and Nina. Jack had wanted to kill Nina even before he had known that she had killed Teri, and Alex hoped that Jack would not put his much wanted revenge over the lives of millions of innocents. Megan, who was listening to the pair speak, looked at Kim.

"What did they do with my daddy?," she asked, and Kim looked at Alex through the rear view mirror as if to silently ask him.

"He's at CTU where he'll be safe for now. We'll find out more when we get to San Jose, OK?," Alex replied, unaware that Matheson was now lying in a morgue drawer next to the one which contained his wife. He hoped that Megan had some other relative who could look after her, because there was no chance any of her parents would be able to.

"When will that be?," Megan enquired, and Alex checked the clock on the dashboard.

"Just over an hour to go. Kim's auntie is going to look after you for a while, but I have to go back to Los Angeles when we get there," Alex told her.

"Why don't you stay in San Jose with us, Alex? I'm sure CTU will understand," Kim asked. She was already concerned for her father who she thought was still in Los Angeles.

"I have to go back, Kim, but as soon as we stop this threat, I'll call you so you don't have to worry about either me or your father," Alex replied. He had considered staying in San Jose, but knew that he couldn't do that to his friends back at CTU.

3.45pm, plane south of Visalia, California

Nina was now shackled to a chair close to where Jack had been sitting, and she closed her eyes as a soft ray of light came in through the window and illuminated her. Jack looked at her and decided to sit close to her. As he sat down, Nina noticed the movement and opened her eyes, but said nothing.

"Sunday before you killed my wife...Teri and I went down to the board walk in Venice. Just watching all the rollerbladers and musicians, laughing at the crazy people...spending time together....And Teri sees this snowcone stand," Jack began. He was speaking from his mind, showing her just how much her actions had affected him, but she showed no emotion as he spoke.

"She giggles like a kid, takes off running, wants to get in line, she wants one....I remember, I was watching, I...I couldn't help myself. When I looked up at her she was talking with this old lady in line behind her and the two of them were laughing. And I remember thinking to myself, "How the hell does she do that? How does she strike up a conversation with an absolute stranger, and...and they just start laughing? Like they've been friends forever?" That's a gift. I remember thinking, "God, I wish I could do that." But I can't. That was Teri...my wife....That's what you took from this world, Nina. That's what you took from me, and my daughter. I just wanted you to know that," Jack finished, and throughout Nina had hardly moved or shown any reaction. He wondered if she was even really listening, and as he tried to not let her indifference affect him, he realised that he didn't need her to react, he had just needed to tell her what he had just said.

Jack was about to return to his seat, when a huge explosion rocked the side of the plane. Looking at Nina, he saw the panic and confusion in her eyes, and it was his turn to be satisfied even though he knew that he might only have minutes left to live. Remembering his mission, Jack decided to act.

"Tell us where the bomb is, Nina, please!," Jack pleaded with her, but she stayed silent. One of the FBI agents stuck a gun into the side of her head and repeated Jack's question.

"Put the gun down! She won't talk, it's no use. I'm going to contact CTU," Jack spoke, before he started to move with great difficulty towards the cockpit of the plane.

3.50pm, CTU Los Angeles

As George, Tony and Michelle listened to Jack, they hoped that he and Nina – although for entirely different reasons – would survive the crash. They had decided to try and crash land in a dry river bed, which would give them the best chance of surviving.

"Is she not talking, Jack?," George asked regarding Nina. The whole day had been one disaster after another, and now it looked as if their only chance at stopping the nuke was slipping away fast.

"No, George, she isn't. Look, I'll try and contact you as soon as possible after we crash land," Jack replied, and his voice was quickly replaced by static.

3.55pm, road east of Gilroy, California

Less than an hour away from San Jose, and the sun was pouring through the windscreen and into Alex's eyes. Pulling down the sun shade, he took his eyes off the road for a second, and it was a second too much as the car hurtled towards a fallen tree trunk. Slamming on the brakes was no use, and as the car smashed into the tree with an ominous thud, all four of the car's occupants were knocked out, and the only sound that came from the car was the horn, as if to alert someone to the accident.

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