A/N: Hello to anyone still out there! It has been so long since I posted and I'm so sorry. Honestly, I go through so many spurts of writing and not writing. As soon as I get stuck on one story, I jump to another story which ultimately ends with me not finishing stories that I once felt very passionate about. That's what happened with this one. I had written another five chapters, didn't like it, left it alone for like a year, came back to it, and now I am happy to report that I have everything written except the last scene of the epilogue!

RECAP (in case you don't want to go back and re-read the previous chapters): Jack comes home from China and helps with the attacks of Day 6. Then, he goes to find Audrey and learns that they had a son (Jack Jr.). Audrey moved to L.A. with their son to be closer to Kim who lives across the street and they have become really close. Jack is learning to adjust to this new reality but is struggling to cope with the tortures he endured in China (mostly appearing in nightmares). To distract himself, Jack took a job as Director of CTU but had to agree to weekly therapy with Dr. Trost in order to maintain the position.

Chapter 9

"Jack, have you looked through the personnel reports yet?" Katrina asked, walking into his office.

"Yeah," Jack answered. "I'm not thrilled with any of them."

"I gave you fifteen candidates for Director of Field Ops," Katrina stated. "And, you couldn't find one that you liked?"

"Our teams have been running efficiently under Doyle," Jack argued.

"Yes, but Doyle is going back to CTU Chicago next month," Katrina reminded him. "We need to find someone by then. Look through the candidates again, add your own candidates, I don't care. Just please schedule at least three interviews for next week."

Jack sighed as Katrina left his office.

"What's been new at work, Jack?" Dr. Trost asked him.

Jack sighed. "Interviews for the Head of Field Ops position."

"I guess you don't like the candidates?" Trost questioned, based on Jack's unenthused demeanor.

"They're all fine," Jack told him. "Any of them would do the job really well."

"So, what's the problem?"

"I don't know," Jack sighed. "It's going to be hard to replace the last one."

"What happened to the last Head of Field Ops?" Trost questioned.

Trost watched Jack's jaw clench. After a moment of silence, he was about to speak up again, thinking that Jack wasn't going to answer him. But, Jack said gruffly, "I killed him."

Trost tried not to let his surprise show. Not only his surprise at Jack killing a fellow CTU agent but at Jack opening up to him without much force. He wanted Jack to continue on his own so he did not ask any follow-up questions.

"Curtis had a grudge against a terrorist who was helping our investigation. He was about to shoot him. He wouldn't put his gun down and I could see it in his eyes that he was about to pull the trigger. So, I shot him."

"That must have been an incredibly difficult decision for you," Trost commented.

Jack nodded. "The look he gave me as he was dying. He felt betrayed."

"But, if you needed the terrorist alive, then Curtis was compromising the mission," Trost rationalized. "You did what you had to do."

Jack shrugged.

"What would you have done differently?" Trost asked, sensing that Jack wasn't convinced that he wasn't in the wrong for shooting Curtis.

"Nothing," Jack admitted. "That's the problem. It's always hard and I'm always fully aware of what the consequences will be. Yet, I don't think twice about my decision."

"You make it sound like this isn't the first time this has happened," Trost pointed out.

"Yeah. I let Audrey's husband die in surgery because I needed the surgeon to save a man who didn't deserve it in order to get information from him," Jack explains. "I knew that Paul would die. I knew that Audrey would hate me."

"But, she doesn't," Trost reminded him.

"She did at the time," Jack insisted. "She's grown a lot since then. She understands why I had to make that decision now."

"But, you don't feel any better about it," Trost concluded.

"No," Jack said. "The logic behind it makes sense. One innocent person dies so that more can be saved. But, when faced with that decision in reality, normal people wouldn't actually be able to take the innocent person's life."

"So, if those people are normal, what does that make you?"

"A monster," Jack shrugged.

"Seems a bit harsh," Trost argued.

"So was shooting a fellow agent in the neck."

"You have a hard time forgiving yourself," Trost said.

"No kidding," Jack admitted.

"Why do you think that is?" Trost asked.

Jack considered it for a moment but wasn't sure exactly. He supposed he just felt like the things he had done were unforgivable. Jack looked at the clock, unsure of what to say, and saw that it was the end of their hour session. "It looks like our time is up."

"Right," Trost responded, disappointed. "I want you to think about that question though."

Jack nodded, unconvincingly before leaving.

Audrey and Kim were doing their grocery shopping together. It was nice that Jack could stay home with the baby, as Audrey sometimes found it exhausting to have to bring him to the store. It was also nice to spend some time with Kim. Audrey and Kim had become really good friends, but hadn't spent as much time together since Jack returned. They strolled through the aisles, not in any rush.

"Diapers," Kim pointed out, and Audrey grabbed a few packages and added them to her cart. As she turned back to Kim, she saw her nonchalantly throwing a large box of condoms into her cart.

"Are you two having a marathon?" Audrey teased, commenting on the size of the box.

Kim laughed. "No. I just saw how expensive those diapers are and I'm not taking the chance of running out."

Audrey laughed too. Kim reached over and pulled another box off the shelf. She handed it to Audrey.

Audrey rolled her eyes. "I'm good, thanks."

"Suit yourself," Kim said, putting them back on the shelf. "But, if I end up with another unplanned brother or sister, don't say I didn't warn you."

"You definitely don't need to worry about that," Audrey muttered under her breath as they continued down the aisle.

"What?" Kim asked, not having heard her.

"Nothing." Audrey said. Kim looked at her skeptically. "We just don't get a lot of alone time. You know, with a one year old constantly looking for our attention."

"How about I take Jack on Friday night so you two can go on a date?" Kim suggested. She wanted the two of them to be happy together and if she could help, she would.

"Really?" Audrey asked.

"Yeah," Kim agreed.

"That would be great!" Audrey said excitedly.

When Audrey got home, she was really excited to ask Jack to go out with her on Friday. He helped her unload the groceries when she pulled into the driveway.

"How was shopping?" he asked.

"Good!" Audrey smiled.

"You seem happy," Jack said, putting away the last of the food.

"I am," Audrey agreed, hugging him. She pulled back and held his hands so she could see his face. "Kim offered to watch Jack Jr. on Friday night. So, I was thinking we could go out to dinner together."

"Oh," he said. Audrey saw that his face seemed under enthused and her smile instantly faded.

"Or not," Audrey sighed, letting go of his hands. She felt like she was going to cry. She was so confused. He told her he loved her. He kissed her and hugged her every day. But, she wondered now if it was all just part of being a family to him. Maybe he didn't truly want to be with her but she just came along with his son.

Jack put his hands on her shoulder. "No, I want to. I'm sorry. That wasn't the right reaction."

"It was if that's how you feel about it," Audrey said defensively.

"It's not though," Jack promised. He sighed. He had been caught off guard by her request. They hadn't been on a date in over three years. He was nervous. He didn't want to disappoint her if he wasn't sure what to say or what to talk about. "Honestly, I'm just a little nervous."

"Nervous?"

"Yeah," Jack admitted.

"Why?"

"It's just been a long time," he said. "What if you find that you don't like me as much as you used to?"

"Jack," Audrey sighed. "I love you. I already know that I like you. That won't change. I just want to spend time with you, just the two of us."

Jack smiled. "I want that too."

Audrey smiled. She was so excited for their date.

Audrey was wearing a black dress that hugged her upper body tightly and then flowed out into the skirt that ended halfway down her thigh. Jack Jr. was playing with a toy on the floor by her feet as she got ready for her date. She had a long silver necklace that matched her earrings and her sparkly black heels. She had spent time doing her hair so that her blonde hair fell perfectly into loose waves. It was the first time in a long time that she put a lot of effort into her appearance. She was putting the finishing touches on her makeup when Kim walked in.

"Wow! You look amazing," Kim complimented.

Audrey smiled. "Thank you."

"Hey kid," Kim said, as Jack Jr. came up to her and hugged her leg. "You want to come play at my house?"

"No," Jack Jr. said with a laugh.

"Don't take it personally. That's his new favorite word," Audrey told her. Audrey's phone rang and she saw that it was Jack.

"Hey you," she answered.

"Hey," Jack said. "I just wanted to let you know that I have to work late tonight."

Audrey felt disappointed. But, if Jack had to work, she understood. "Oh, okay. I'll cancel our reservations."

Jack was silent for a minute. He had forgotten that they were supposed to go out tonight. "Shit. I'm so sorry, Audrey."

"You forgot?" Audrey asked, feeling hurt.

"I just didn't realize what day it was," Jack explained. "I'm sorry. I promise I'll make it up to you."

"Alright," Audrey said sadly. "I'll see you when you get home then."

"I love you," Jack said, but Audrey had already hung up.

Audrey blinked back the tears that had formed in her eyes before turning back to Kim. "Well, you are off babysitting duty tonight."

"I'm so sorry, Audrey," Kim said, knowing how excited Audrey was about this date.

"It's fine," Audrey lied. She grabbed a makeup wipe and wiped it across her face, getting rid of the makeup she had spent half an hour on.

"Well, I could still take him," Kim offered. "If you wanted a night alone."

"No," Audrey insisted. She was sick of being alone. "Thank you though."

"Alright, well, in that case, girls night," Kim said firmly, knowing that if she said it as a question, Audrey would deny the offer. "I'll get out the wine."

Jack hung up the phone and cursed himself. How could he forget about his date with Audrey? She sounded so hurt on the phone. He sighed and looked down at his computer. He started typing faster, hoping to finish sooner so he could fix things with Audrey.

He was surprised when Katrina came into his office. He figured she would have gone home by now.

"Hey," she greeted. "Thank you for scheduling those interviews next week. I'd like to sit in on them, if that's alright."

"Why do I get the feeling that I have no choice?" Jack asked.

Katrina smiled and sat down across from him. "You can say no if you want. I was just interested, but I don't have to."

"Oh, okay," Jack said. He just hated having her hover when it was mandated that she do so. "In that case, you are welcome to sit in."

"Thank you," she replied. She looked at the clock and saw that it was past their hours. Granted their hours also depended upon what was going on. If there were a major terrorist threat, they wouldn't be able to leave at five. But, today's work seemed done. "Why are you still here?"

"Finishing up the reports of today's events for the weekend shift," Jack told her.

"Oh, well, I can do some if you'd like," she offered.

"No, that's okay," Jack responded. He needed her to know that he could handle this job on his own.

She dug her laptop out of her bag. "It's the least I can do for being such a pain in your ass."

Jack smiled. He could really use the help in order to get home to Audrey faster. "Thank you."

Jack told her what he had already done and they split up the rest of the work. They were mostly quiet as they worked except for asking each other a few clarifying questions in order to write the reports.

"Thank you for your help tonight," Jack told her, as they finished at nine. They both were packing up their things and headed out of Jack's office. "I would have been here until midnight."

"It was no problem," she insisted.

"And, for the record, having you around is not as bad as I originally thought it would be," Jack told her. She was actually very good at her job and Jack felt like she was truly helping him navigate this position again and contributed a lot to their efforts.

"Well, I'm glad," she said. "Everyone at CTU makes it seem like people from Division can't be trusted."

"Well, there are a lot of cases where Division has just slowed things down for us," Jack reminded her.

"I get that," she admitted. "But, we all have the same goal in the end. Division just likes to keep things a little more...structured."

Jack nodded. They walked through the parking lot and Katrina stopped him before they went their separate ways.

"Hey, Jack," she started. "Would you want to get a drink?"

Jack was surprised by her asking him out for a drink. He didn't think he had given her any signals that he was interested in her. "Um, I should really be getting home."

She smiled. "Okay, maybe another time."

Jack watched as she turned and went to her car. Should he have made it more clear that he was with someone? He sighed and got into his car. He certainly wouldn't be winning any best boyfriend awards any time soon.

On his way home, he thought about what he should say to Audrey. In the morning, he would ask Kim to watch Jack Jr. to give him and Audrey another chance at a date. He hoped she wasn't too disappointed about tonight. He really did have work that needed to get done. Surely, Audrey could understand that.

When he went inside the house, he saw Audrey asleep on the couch. She was wearing pajamas but not one of his old T-shirts like she usually did. Her hair was fanned out across the throw pillow and looked flawless. She had obviously spent a lot of time on it. There were two empty glasses of wine on the coffee table. She woke up as Jack closed the door behind him.

"Sorry," he muttered. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"It's fine," Audrey said, sitting up. Jack sat next to her on the couch.

"I'm so sorry, Audrey," he apologized. "I had to finish those reports."

"I'm not mad that you had to stay late at work," she told him, rubbing her head. "I'm mad that you didn't even remember that we had a date tonight."

"I know," Jack understood. "I'm sorry. Let me make it up to you. I can ask Kim to babysit again tomorrow and we can go out. Okay?"

"Kim's busy tomorrow," Audrey informed him.

"Okay," Jack sighed. "Then, next weekend?"

Audrey nodded. "Alright."

Jack and Audrey went to bed together. Audrey wasn't going to let herself be excited for their rescheduled date. She didn't want to be let down again. But, she was just happy that Jack even wanted to reschedule.

A/N: Thanks for reading! Reviews are very much appreciated!