CTU Los Angeles - Monday, February 18th, 2002
It was late in the afternoon and Jack was in his office. Looking down to the bullpen below, he could see Nina and Tony. Standing close together, they seemed to be whispering to each other. Up until a month ago, he and Nina had been together, much to the detriment of his marriage. Now he was trying to repair the cracks, and Nina seemed to be already over it and moving on, or at least she seemed to be. There always seemed to be hidden parts of her that were so well guarded that no matter what he did, he could never see.
It had ended soon after the trip to Santa Barbara. Both knew that it was never going to last, and both knew that it was over. Jack knew that he had already caused a lot of damage to his marriage, and as much as he loved Nina, he knew that he could never really, truly be with her. Besides, he loved Teri more, even if he wasn't doing much to prove it.
Soon he would be leaving CTU for the day, although for the first time in a while, he would be going home to his family rather than a cheap apartment a block away. He and Teri had been working on their relationship, but tonight, for his birthday, he just wanted to spend some time with his family without CTU, without Nina, without any problems. He wanted to feel like a husband and father once again.
On his last birthday, he and Teri had been on much better terms. His work had still gotten in the way, but him and Nina was not yet another knife in the back of his marriage. He had taken the Thursday and Friday off, so that he and Teri could go on a short trip together. Worries that CTU would somehow find a way of ruining it were unfounded, and they had a wonderful, relaxing break.
Jack looked at the front of their house as he climbed out of his car. He had not been there very often since late last year, but now he was returning home, hopefully for good. As he entered, Teri greeted him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. She told him that Kim had gone out for the night, much to his disappointment, but at least it meant that he could spend some time alone with Teri.
The last time they had been alone was probably back in early January. They had arranged to meet at a cafe half-way between their respective work places for lunch. It had been their attempt to just talk to each other, not necessarily to try and fix things or work them out, but to simply find out what the other had been up to and how they were. The experience had been awkward, and the silences long and unpleasant, but both of them left thinking at least some progress had been made. After all, the lunch ended peacefully and calmly, instead of being brought to an early end by a loud argument.
The evening had gone well, they had even managed to kiss albeit after quite a few drinks. It had been just Jack and Teri, even the awkward silences had given them a break. Close to midnight, both of them decided that Jack didn't need to sleep in the guest room any more. They kissed as Jack closed the bedroom door, and thus began the next stage of healing for their family.