20.00pm, CTU Los Angeles

Tony was busy at his station and busily getting ready for the inevitable time when George Mason would resign, and he would become the Acting Director of CTU. He had been Acting Director a few times over the past eighteen months, at first just after Teri's death for a few weeks until Mason was brought in, and then temporarily – usually for no more than a few hours at a time – when Mason was incapacitated. Michelle would be promoted to Chief of Staff, and Alex would replace her as third in command, and Tony noted the similarity between that set-up and the one that had been in place before Nina's arrest. Of course, Michelle was no Nina Myers, and he was sure that although Alex and Michelle were close, that Alex had no romantic interest in her, unlike himself. Tony was sure that his developing feelings for Michelle were becoming obvious to everyone else, and he realised the risk he was taking, especially after Nina. Noticing Alex and Michelle walking into the main bullpen, he hoped that he would be able to improve CTU and change things for the better. He certainly had no intention of allowing any more moles to carry out their treachery whilst he was Director, and he had a whole list of flaws – something that had come from Division after the investigation of CTU – that as Acting Director he would be charged with fixing.

As Michelle returned to her desk, Alex headed towards the parking lot, and as he walked down the corridor, he remembered that night – running down the darkened passageway even though he was exhausted, shocked at what had happened and hoping that they got there in time. Running into the parking lot and seeing that scene – Jack threatening Nina, a crashed car, blood slipping down Nina's face, a look of anger and bewilderment on Jack's face, and a gun pointed straight at Nina's head. It seemed unreal, as if he had simply fallen asleep at his desk and his subconscious was playing a rather unfunny joke on him, but this was no mental prank, this was reality and Alex found it to be dark, horrific and not at all what he had moved to Los Angeles for.

Mason was in his office, looking down at the activity of the bullpen. He knew that he had little time left, and although he had no desire to die so young, he was in so much pain that he knew he would welcome his untimely death when it came, but he was determined not to spend his last hours or minutes in a hospital bed. Even if he collapsed and died in his office, he wanted to stay and do his part to stop the nuke, and he knew that they had only a few hours left. Picking up his phone, he dialled a number and waited for it to ring.

"Hello, Sarah? It's George," Mason spoke as his ex-wife replied. He hadn't spoken to her in so many years, and to hear her voice again, to be in contact with the woman he had loved so passionately, was a relief to him in his final few hours.

"George? John called me a few hours ago..is it true? Are you dying?," Sarah asked, her soft voice cracking. Even though their marriage had ended a long time ago, and even though there was still some mild animosity, a mutual respect still existed, and if the pair were to be truly honest, there was still love between them.

"Yeah, it is. I don't think I'll make it through the night, so I wanted to call you while you were still awake, whilst I still could. I've had to come to terms with this so quickly, Sarah. I want you to know that I regret the fact that our marriage didn't work out, and that in many ways I still love you," George spoke, his voice now cracking slightly, but at this point he couldn't care less. It wasn't like anyone else was around, and it wasn't like he had the many decades left that others his age could look forward to. No, he had less than a day left and right now, he wanted to set things right whilst he still could.

"I'm so sorry, George. You know, I'm going to miss you so much, and I'll never forget you," Sarah spoke, and George could tell that she was crying. Not hysterically – that wasn't Sarah's style – but a silent, composed cry. He had always loved just how strong she could be emotionally, no matter what.

"Miss me but don't mourn, Sarah. You should go live your life," George spoke quietly, his eyes watering, tears falling onto the desk.

20.20pm, Matheson house, Los Angeles

Kim had asked Alex to get her things from the Matheson house, not willing to go anywhere near the place again, and as he opened the front door, he looked around. It was a rather posh house, typical of the middle-class suburb that the Matheson house was located in, and Alex wondered if Gary Matheson fit the profile of a typical wife beater – a perfectionist, someone who needed everything to be just right. The furniture was positioned in such a way and the lack of any sign of the house being actually lived in made Alex sure that Matheson had controlled the house, and his family, with an iron grip. Climbing the stairs, he could only imagine the underlying tension in the house, and although he was sorry that Carla was dead, he was glad that Megan at least would escape such an unhealthy and abusive environment. Luckily, Carla had a sister and Megan's aunt had already arranged to pick her up from Kim's aunt as soon as she could. Noticing movement in what had been Kim's bedroom, Alex took out his gun and slowly moved towards the door. Listening to ascertain where in the room the movement was coming from. Concluding that the movement was on the other side of the room, he moved quickly into the room with his gun ready. Sighing with relief as he realised it was just a curtain next to an open window, he walked over to close the window. Grabbing a couple of suitcases, he began piling stuff inside. Emptying a drawer of what appeared to be mostly pictures, he noticed one in particular. It showed Kim with her parents and was probably a few years old, and the trio looked happy. No stress, no anger or hate, and certainly no untimely deaths to grieve over. Looking at the photograph for a few minutes, Alex realised that what he knew of Jack and Kim was not much – he mainly knew Jack through Nina's eyes, and his own after he had joined CTU Los Angeles. He had heard nothing about Kim from Nina, but he had grown to see as a young woman who was sometimes immature, but who had a streak of resilience and strength running through her, and Alex noticed, in the few hours that he had known her, that Teri was similar. Placing the photographs carefully into the suitcase, he tried to focus on the day's events and not on the past.

20.30pm, O'Connor Hospital, San Jose

"Hmm, he seems to be making good progress. In fact, he might even wake up any minute now," the nurse spoke to Kim as he checked Miguel. He had been in a much more stable condition over the past hour, and he seemed to be improving. Thanking the nurse as he left the room, Kim noticed the time and wondered how the day would end. Would she have seen her father and everyone else in LA for the last time, or would she be able to return there as soon as she could? She hoped that no news really did mean good news. It upset her that this was even happening because it only opened old mental wounds from that day her mother died. Back then CTU had been in the middle of everything as well, and back then it seemed as if the day would never end. Even though it had only been around ten hours since she had first heard of the threat, it felt like ten days or weeks to her.

20.35pm, CTU Los Angeles

A kindly – and probably oblivious – technician had brought Nina a cup of coffee, and as she sipped on the hot beverage she glanced at the clock. If the plan failed, she would be on a plane in hours. If it succeeded, nothing would matter anyway. She knew none of the specifics of the plan, but she did know exactly what the consequences would be. Millions dead and dying, a whole region of California virtually destroyed, billions of dollars worth of damage, and the eternal damnation of everyone who helped the plan succeed in the eyes of the American people. Hearing someone outside the door, she gazed in that direction, and as Mason walked in, she could instantly tell that something was wrong with him.

"Not looking too good there, George," Nina remarked as the agent walked up to the table. He was about to reply, before he began coughing violently. Nina, although not really concerned about George at all, allowed a sympathetic look to show, before snapping back to an indifferent one as George recovered.

"It's nothing, Nina. I just wanted to let you know something," Mason replied, before he became pensive. Nina looked at him and tried to work out what this something was. She was tempted to ask, but decided to let George think uninterrupted.

"If you survive this, and you go into exile but escape, you know I won't hesitate in letting Jack off of his leash. I won't be able to stop him coming after you, so keep that in mind would you?," George informed her, and Nina looked at him curiously. Was he just warning her, or was he actually concerned about her well-being? He had certainly rushed into the room quickly enough earlier in the day when Jack had lost his temper and was strangling her, but then he did let Jack back in afterwards. Not to mention the fact that he seemed to have no problem with letting Jack escort her to Visalia. Even so, Nina couldn't help but consider the possibility that George's not so secret crush he had on her a few years before was at least one of the factors driving this supposed show of concern.

"Let's say I do escape, George. I could be halfway around the world before Jack finds out, and we both know that. CTU has it's flaws, and we know that I've always been quite keen to exploit them," Nina spoke. She knew that she was basically admitting that she would attempt to escape, but that was a given with her. Plus, they couldn't do anything about it anyway, due to the pardon. George looked at her unsurprised. He could only guess at how long it would take for Nina to escape, but he was happy to see that Nina had no idea that he was dying, and that he truly wouldn't be able to stop Jack anyway. She didn't need to know of his death, but George knew that she was likely to hear of it sometime – whether it was on the plane to North Africa or years in the future, Nina would eventually find out if she wanted to. George knew that when Nina had been a CTU agent, she had been one of the best. Yes, the relationship she had with Jack both annoyed and worried him, but CTU benefited greatly from her skills and intelligence. On the night of her arrest, it did not sink in that Nina had been working for the Drazens for hours, simply because he could not comprehend the fact that Nina Myers would even consider working for a terrorist.

"CTU has changed since you left, Nina. We still have some of the flaws that you exploited, and I'm sure that we have some new ones, but we've moved on. I can't stop Jack coming after you, Nina, but what about you? Will you keep away from Jack?," George asked, and a smirk grew on Nina's face. The concern that George seemed to have for Jack amused her – it was so different to how George had once seen Jack, and now that she wasn't working at CTU any more she could tell that things were different between the two men.

"I'm not interested in hunting Jack down, George. If he comes after me, I will defend myself, but I'm not going to waste time or resources on Jack Bauer if I don't have to," Nina responded firmly She had no interest in killing Jack as long as he kept away from her. Now, if he did come after her, she would gladly get rid of him once and for all, but she reasoned that Jack was not worth risking going back to jail or dying.

20.50pm, O'Connor Hospital, San Jose

As Miguel woke from his coma, he mumbled quietly, and as his blurry eyesight returned to normal, he noticed a concerned Kim gazing at him, and a broad smile grew on his face.

"Hey, Kim. Are you and everyone OK?," Miguel asked as Kim took his hand in hers and readied herself to tell him about his leg.

"Yes, I'm OK and so is everyone else," Kim replied, and she could feel tears forming in her eyes. Whether it was because of what she had to tell him, or because she was happy to see him awake, or both or even neither, she didn't know. Miguel was glad to hear her voice again, but he remembered the reason they had fled Los Angeles and it showed on his face.

"The bomb, Kim? Did they stop the bomb?," Miguel asked, his voice slightly panicked, and Kim shook her head.

"No, but they're working on it, and they'll stop it. I know they will," Kim assured him, and she wondered how she was going to break the news to him.

"Miguel, I've got some bad news, and I really couldn't work out how I should say this, but I think it's kind of inevitable that you would find out anyway," Kim began, before wiping away a tear from her eye. Miguel, concerned, tried to sit up and noticed the lack of a bump in the sheet where his leg should have been.

"My leg? They..took my leg? Why?," Miguel asked, as he pulled away the sheets to reveal the bloodstained bandage around the remains of his knee. Gasping in shock, he grabbed at the stump, hoping to find the rest of his leg, but Kim gently pushed at his shoulder to make him relax.

"They had to, Miguel, or you would have died. I'm so sorry," Kim replied, and she embraced Miguel. His life had changed forever, but he knew that no one was ultimately to blame for the loss of his leg, and that Kim's apology was unnecessary. However, he was already feeling the early signs of depression.

"It's OK, Kim. It's OK," Miguel whispered.

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