11:00am PST

I just needed two more hours, Tony Almeida said to himself. Just a two more hours and I could have dealt with this again. He was exhausted. He hadn't left until the second shift had completely taken over, until after the Bauers were settled and secure at the safe house, until after Nina had been transferred downtown for holding and processing. So it had nearly been six AM when he finally stumbled into his home, fell on his bed and… stared at the ceiling for almost two hours. Exhaustion be damned, his mind couldn't stop spinning. He supposed it was the opposite of going into shock. He was hyper-aware of every sound, the dim outlines of the dresser in his bedroom. It was like his mind was determined not to miss anything. Not like he missed the truth about her.

Nina.

How could I be so foolish? The last time he had been in his bed, she had been with him. The murder, the traitor… the woman he might have been falling in… no, he wasn't going to think about that part. He could still smell the perfume she had been wearing at dinner on the pillows, and he could almost feel her arm draped over his chest, her head tucked into his neck...

Tony shook his head to clear it as he opened the door to the floor. He couldn't afford to be off his game now. Not with everyone looking to him, or at him, he supposed. The last thing he needed was to get lost in those memories. He told himself they were false. It had been a lie.

It wasn't helping much.

Tony crossed to his desk, dropped his jacket on his chair, and checked the clock. He'd gotten maybe two hours of good sleep. Four would have been better. But George Mason had made it clear he wanted Tony in by eleven, and, like it or not, it looked like George was going to be in charge. Back to business and time to clean up.

Tony looked over the floor, searching to see if George was still in, or if he had finally gone home, and his gaze fell on the conference room. The blinds were open and he could see George and Ryan Chapelle in the room, talking heatedly with a brunette woman Tony didn't recognize. Sitting off to the side, observing intently was… Senator David Palmer? What's he doing back here? I thought he was on his way to Dallas again. None of them looked like they'd gotten any sleep recently. And unless Tony was mistaken, it looked like the woman was wearing a set of the sweats that were kept in the locker rooms for agents who wanted a quick workout in the small gym. Where are her clothes? He wondered idly.

As Tony watched, the woman started talking again, only to be cut off by Chapelle. She shook her head and stood, leaning over the table gesturing at the numerous files spread out in front of her, apparently trying to finish whatever she had been saying before. Tony could see the frustration written all over her face. Chapelle stood as well, and the two of them faced off over the conference table. Mason rolled his eyes, and put up a hand, trying to calm them down, but it looked like he was having no effect. All at once, the Senator stood, said a few words to Chapelle while motioning to the woman. When he was done, the woman sat back down, a small expression of surprise on her face, and Chapelle stalked out of the conference room. He went straight up to Jack's office and began placing a call. Tony had never seen him look so angry and defeated at the same time. Whatever was going on in that room, it appeared Chapelle was outnumbered.

Out of the corner of his eye, Tony saw Milo sitting at Jamey's old station, also taking in the floor show, it appeared. Turning, Tony walked over to the hacker, hoping he could shed some light on what was going on. The last thing Tony needed was more surprises. "Do you know what's going on in there?"

"Actually, no. And I'm not sure I want to. It's like going back in time, seeing those two go at it again."

"That woman and Chapelle?" Tony turned to look back into the room. It appeared the conversation was continuing in Chapelle's absence, Senator Palmer had resumed his seat and it looked like the woman was asking him about something in the files. She seemed upset, and confused, as well. Tony knew how she felt.

"You mean Lizzie? Oh, yeah, that's right; you weren't here for that, were you? You missed the three ring circus by about a month or so. Man, what mess. Nice to see Lizzie able to dish a bit back at Chapelle, though."

"Lizzie?" Something clicked in Tony's mind, "That isn't... Elizabeth Genova?"

"Yup, in the flesh. Henderson's other pet wunderkind. Other than Jack, I mean."

Tony began gathering his thoughts. He had only heard a little about Agent Elizabeth Genova, and most of that was rumor and innuendo. If he remembered correctly, she had held Nina's job before Nina did, working alongside Jack as his second-in-command. He knew she had fired only a year ago, due to some sort of misconduct and insubordination. According to some of the stories he had heard, she had been a stellar field agent otherwise. She was smart, quick-thinking, and tough- she didn't give in easy, and she didn't crack under pressure.

Nina hadn't liked her, though, and she had mentioned on more than one occasion that Agent Genova had been more of a loose cannon than Jack. Tony could only imagine what the combination of the two had been like. Nina had seemed happy to see her go, although she never really told Tony what had actually happened to get her fired in the first place. Now he wished he had asked.

Tony continued to watch the conference room. Agent Genova was doing most of the talking now, occasionally looking at Senator Palmer or George for confirmation on some point as she flipped through the various files. She seemed to be much more comfortable than she had been earlier. After a few minutes, Chapelle exited the upstairs office and re-entered the conference room. He said a few words to Senator Palmer, and then addressed Agent Genova. He saw her arch an eyebrow and lean back in her chair, nodding in agreement. Next to Tony, Milo shook his head. "Man to be a fly on that wall," the young man muttered.

After running her fingers through her hair, she said a few more words to the group. Whatever she said, it looked like it effectively ended the meeting, and everyone stood. Senator Palmer shook Agent Genova's hand, and held it for a moment, speaking earnestly. A sad smile crossed her face, and she nodded. With that, Senator Palmer motioned to Chapelle who opened the conference room door and began escorting the Senator out, flanked by the Secret Service agents that had been standing at the door. As they passed Tony, he could hear part of the Senator's continuing conversation.

"…and frankly, Mr. Chapelle, I don't care about your personal issues with Agent Genova. From what I hear there was no proof, and the proof you did have, well, I guess it's rather suspect now, isn't it? Jack Bauer asked for her. Langley approved the request, and after what I've heard in there, I personally endorse it as well. If I hear you're impeding her investigation, I will personally see to it…"

Tony quickly looked back to the conference room; shocked by the vehemence with witch the Senator had defended the former CTU agent. The files had been stacked neatly, and Agent Genova and George were sitting across from each other, still engrossed in conversation. Desperately wanting some answers, Tony began to walk across the floor.

Agent Genova looked up for a moment and saw Tony moving toward the conference room. Her eyes locked with his and she said something to George, who turned and looked as well. Tony paused, unsure if he should continue, but George waved him over.

Tony entered the conference room, and George drawled, "Tony, nice of you to join us."

"George."

"This is Agent Almeida, then?" Genova asked, looking at George.

"Yup, Antonio Almeida, Elizabeth Genova. Liz, Tony." George turned and headed out of the room, "I'm going upstairs to make that call you wanted and then I'm going home for a few hours. Liz, you OK for now?" She nodded. "Tony here can help you with anything you need." I will? "Play nice you two, and try not to burn the place down."

Mason left the room went up the stairs to Jack's office, his office now, Tony reminded himself. He turned to face Liz and was somewhat angered to see she had turned back to one of the files and was ignoring him, flipping through the pages. Bad enough that someone who had been fired was just going through what looked like classified documents, but to blithely do it while he was standing there…

"Excuse me, Agent Genova-" he began. But he was cut off when she began to speak.

"Tony Almeida, 29, born in Chicago, Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, former Marine Corps, First Lieutenant."

That's MY file? Tony clenched his jaw. What the hell is going on here?

Agent Genova continued, never looking up. "Masters was at Stanford, recruited right out of Transmeta. Good reports from your trainers and supervisors, a merit citation for Operation Proteus, not too shabby. I'd heard that was an… interesting operation. Kinda sorry I missed it. Tell me something, Agent Almeida, when did you start your relationship with Nina Meyers?"

Tony was floored. "Excuse me?"

Agent Genova sighed, "Your off-book, not-so-under-the-radar, sexual relationship with former Agent Nina Meyers, when did it begin?" Agent Genova finally looked up, fixing Tony's dark eyes with her icy blue ones. "It's a simple question, Agent Almeida, and I'd like you answer it, please."

"I don't answer to you."

"Actually, Almeida, you kinda do for the time being." George Mason's voice came from behind Tony. He had come up behind and was hovering in the doorway. "Sorry to interrupt. Liz?"

"Yeah, George? She answered.

"The techs you requested are being assembled; do you want Milo to start without them?"

"How much sleep has he gotten?"

"How the hell should I know that, Liz?"

Tony cleared his throat, "Milo got here at about five-thirty am or so yesterday, he left here about two or three am this morning, I'm assuming he was back here by nine or so, that's when I asked him to come back. He's had more sleep than anyone else who was involved with yesterday." He turned to glare at Agent Genova, "And for the record, Nina and I started our relationship a little over a month ago. Needless to say, it's over now. Would you like any details?"

"No. Thanks, though, if I change my mind, I'm sure I can goad Nina into saying something later during her interrogation."

Tony took a step toward the seated agent, "Interrogation? Where the hell do you get off-"

George came completely into the room, and put a hand on his arm. "Easy, Tony." He looked over at Agent Genova. "You're making friends awfully fast, Liz."

"Hey, I'm on your side, George, despite what Chapelle thinks. But those Department of Defense cronies will be here in a little over an hour, and I can't be the only person in the room without the relevant details. I've been asked to run an investigation that everyone else wants to bury and that's not going to be easy." She turned to face Tony again, "So I'm sorry, Agent Almeida, if my manner seems rude, but you were here, you know what happened, I don't. I've had," she glanced at the clock over Tony's head, "just over three hours to get caught up, and I'm still stuck on fact that the woman who sent me home-baked cookies on my last birthday was shot in the back less than fifty yards from where I'm sitting."

Tony stood there, shocked and unable to move. "I'm sorry, it's just-"

"I know, Agent Almeida, and I am sorry. But if you would sit, please, and we'll start again? And this time I'll try not to growl at you so much. That work for you, George?"

"Frankly, Liz, I don't really care how you do this, but I'd still like to know what I'm doing with these techs."

Tony suppressed a grin as Liz rolled her eyes, "Fine, Milo can start with Jamey's and Tony's stations; I want the person division's sending out to handle Nina's and Jack's. If there are more of those taps Milo found on the main server I want them found, now."

"OK, that's all I needed, I'm leaving now." Both Tony and Agent Genova watched George walk across the floor and shout an order at Milo. After he exited the floor, they turned to each other. Tony slowly lowered himself into a chair opposite Agent Genova.

"Shall we start again, Agent Genova?" he offered cautiously. She didn't reply. "Agent Genova?"

The exhausted agent leaned in, "I'm not after you, Almeida, honestly. While I imagine that there will be those who will wonder if you were… complicit in Nina's actions, I want you to know I'm not one of them. She doesn't like having partners, she prefers to work alone. Regardless of what you felt for her, I doubt she would have accepted your help even if you offered it."

Tony took a deep breath, "I… well I guess I appreciate that, Agent Genova."

"But I'm saying that, so I can say this- you are under suspicion. Technically, you should be suspended until you're officially cleared, but I need you now and I don't have time to ask nicely."

"I think I can understand that."

"Good."

"Can I ask you one question, before we start?" Tony asked.

"Sure, I suppose."

"What's with the sweats?"

For the first time, Tony saw a genuine smile cross Agent Genova's face. "Long story short? When you're running under Russian radar you don't carry a large wardrobe." Tony arched his eyebrow inquisitively and Agent Genova actually chuckled. "When we get through yours; I'll tell you mine, deal?"

Tony nodded, "I can live with that, Agent Genova."

"Good, let's get started." Agent Genova pulled another file off the stack and opened it in front of her. "And Agent Almeida?

"Yeah?"

"Call me Liz."

"Tony."

Liz chuckled, "Deal." She picked up a pen and got ready to take notes. "Start from when you were called in after the explosion and let's see how far we get in the next hour."

"What happens when the D.O.D. gets here?"

Liz paused for a moment, and Tony shuddered inwardly at the predatory smile that crept across Liz's face. There was a razor-sharp focus there that made Tony uncomfortable, and he began to wonder exactly what it was she had done to get fired.

"That, Tony," Liz began, "is when the hunt begins for real."