And chapter 2 is up! As always, please review when you're done reading! It really doesn't take very long, and they inspire me to write more stories. Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed my last chapter! And without further ado, here's chapter 2!

Usual disclaimer: I don't own 24 or any of its characters.

Bill sat at his computer at home, logged on to American Airlines Online and entering the number that Karen had given him. From here, he was able to check on the status of her flight. It was on time. He breathed a sigh of relief. There was no way he could wait any longer than he had to for his wife to get home.

As if there would be anything I could do about it if her flight was late, he thought cynically to himself. He sat back in his chair, extremely bored. Bill considered watching the little dot on the screen travel all the way across the United States map for the next 6 hours, but he could hear Karen's voice in the back of his head nagging him to get some sleep. He decided to get some sleep now and wake up before she got home. After all, her plane was only over West Virginia now. He still had a while to go before she got home. He went into the bedroom and set the alarm for 3:30- five and a half hours from now. That would give him plenty of time to get up and be awake for Karen when she arrived.

As her plane touched down at Los Angeles International Airport, Karen Hayes jumped up to exit the plane as fast as her suit and heels would allow. She hadn't taken the time to change clothes after leaving the White House, preferring to get to the airport as soon as possible. Now, she regretted her decision slightly, finding it very difficult to run in her 1-inch heels. Nonetheless, she was able to safely navigate her way out of the terminal, to the baggage claim, and out of LAX.

The nearly unbearable heat of the Los Angeles afternoon hit her like a brick wall as she exited the air-conditioned airport. Usually, she despised the sky-high temperatures of southern California, but today, she welcomed them with open arms. They meant that she was home. She was finding it very difficult to hate anything at the moment, and everything she saw seemed to look beautiful. But how could she not be ecstatic? After three long months of separation from her husband, she was finally home. Karen quickly flagged down a taxi to take her back to the place that she truly belonged.

The annoying buzzing of his alarm woke Bill up at 3:30. He rolled over and looked at the clock, not entirely remembering why he had set it to 3:30 in the afternoon. Still in that state of consciousness between being asleep and being awake, Bill shut off the alarm and went back to sleep.

Half an hour later, Karen was standing outside of the house that she and Bill had moved in to shortly after getting married. Despite the fact that the grass had clearly not been watered regularly in the past few months, it was the most beautiful sight that Karen had ever seen. She had to fight to contain her joy as she rushed up the steps to unlock the door.

It was the sound of the front door creaking open that awoke Bill. It took him a second to realize what woke him up, but he soon heard the scuffling of feet across the hardwood floor of the entry way. For a moment, he wondered who on Earth could be in his entry way at 4:30 in the afternoon. Then it hit him. Karen. His heart rate sped up and he shook the last cobwebs of sleep from his head.

So much for waking up in time to see her home, he thought as he quietly made his way down the stairs. He briefly vowed to later look in to how he slept through his alarm. He found her suitcase at the foot of the stairs, and he could hear some movement coming from the kitchen. Through the doorway, he could see a familiar blonde setting down her things on the counter.

As Bill approached the threshold to the room, Karen whirled around. Her eyes connected with Bill's and time seemed irrelevant. She had rehearsed what she would say at this exact moment at least a hundred times, and in at least a hundred different ways, on the plane ride home. Unfortunately for her, she couldn't remember any of those different plans at the moment. All she could process was that her husband was, in fact, standing mere feet from her, and he had never looked more breathtaking to her than he did now. With Bill standing there in a simple white tee shirt and boxer shorts, his hair slightly disheveled and his eyes still groggy from sleep, Karen felt herself fall in love all over again. She could hardly believe that she had ever been willing to give him up.

"Hi," she finally said somewhat sheepishly. A slow grin spread across Bill's face.

"Hi." Before she had time to say anything else, Bill quickly closed the gap between their bodies and enveloped her in an almost desperate embrace. Karen let out a content sigh as she buried her face in him, breathing in his uniquely musky scent. This was where she belonged. Not back in Washington arguing over some piece of policy- right here, in Bill's arms.

After a long minute, Bill gently pulled back to look at Karen. He held her face between his hands, tenderly stroking her cheeks with his thumbs. She closed her eyes at this small act of affection and a new wave of emotion overpowered her. She could feel several tears escape from the corners of her eyes, and she squeezed her eyes shut even tighter. Bill softly kissed up the trail of her tears, tasting the mix of her salty tears and the sweetness of her skin. Karen felt sobs bubble up to her surface, and soon Bill was holding her tightly again, muttering soothing words of comfort in her ear as she wept into his tee shirt. He gently rocked her, knowing that she needed to be able just to cry after everything that they had been though in the past few days. She had a tendency to put all of her emotions aside for a long period of time, especially during a national crisis, and break down sobbing later, usually when Bill was there.

"Thank you," she whispered into him when her crying had subsided. He pulled back enough to place a kiss on her forehead.

"Anytime," he told her. She gave him a watery smile.

"God, I'm only home for five minutes and you've already reduced me to a weepy mess," she said, causing him to chuckle.

"Ah, but you're my weepy mess, and that's all that matters to me," he grinned. His tone turned slightly more serious. "That's the only thing that matters," he whispered to her. "Not my job, not whatever decisions you had made- only you." He leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on her awaiting lips. Entangling one hand in her hair, he deepened the kiss further and they explored each other, re-learning everything they might have forgotten in the past months. When they were finally forced to break apart due to lack of air, Bill rested his forehead against his wife's.

"What do we do now?" Karen asked quietly. "Neither of us have jobs, and I know we still have a lot to talk about. Where should we go from here?" A mischievous grin spread across Bill's face.

"I think I have a few ideas," he said, placing another quick kiss on her lips. And with that, Bill took Karen's hand and led her upstairs, intending to show her that, no matter what else happened, he would always love her. Sure, they had things to talk about, but there was plenty time for that. They would always have each other, and that was truly all that mattered.

The End