It turned out Jack was living on Savai'i, far away from any populated areas. His home was small and airy with a neat little outdoor cooking area. He had electricity, augmented by solar panels, and running water. The whole place was charming and soothing in a low tech way. She didn't see a TV or a computer, but she suspected there was probably a laptop tucked away somewhere for emergencies.

One of the things you learned working in intelligence was to always have contingency plans. Chloe figured that was how Jack got out of the country. He'd probably had a locker or ten at run down, old train stations and smelly cigar clubs, just full of emergency supplies. Clean passports, papers, money, weapons….just in case. And after liquidating his fathers company (Even splitting the money with Kim and Josh), Jack had plenty of cash to stash…and she knew of at least one Swiss bank account.

Chloe had a couple of small emergency bundles herself, something she'd never imagined when she'd been younger. It was funny how drastically your world could be influenced by the career path you followed.

Which was probably why Jack liked the tranquility of Savai'i. He had his house, a little garden out back, a jeep to go for supplies when needed. He didn't have to worry about double dealing, back stabbing or any kind of stabbing or shooting or nuclear threats.

They chatted about light topics over a meal of grilled fish (freshly caught that morning), pineapple and coconut, Chloe updating him on Kim and Teri and Jack discussing becoming accustomed to the local lifestyle. But it seemed to Chloe that, despite a couple of mentions of people Jack had come to know on Upolo, that he wasn't actually interacting much with other human beings.

Not that Chloe herself was one to talk. Though she'd done deep background checks on everyone in her apartment building, she couldn't tell you the name of any of her neighbors by sight. However, she saw people everyday, at work, Prescott's school, just out and about.

From the sound of things, Jack could go weeks without seeing another person.

That could explain the near constant physical contact since their first hug on the beach. Not that she was complaining, far from it, as she enjoyed the brush of his hand on her back, the arm around her shoulders and the smaller hugs. She'd never been all that comfortable with people encroaching on her physical space, but jack had always gotten a pass on that. Somehow, it had always been a comfort to feel his hand on her shoulder when he'd lean over to peer intently at whatever intel she had on her screen.

But there was no intel here, just the two of them, two friends whom had been separated by forces outside their control, suddenly reunited. It was exhilarating and the part of her heart, the part that had just ached since the day the treaty negotiations had come to an abrupt halt amidst scandal and the shadow of death, felt light again.

She knew when her vacation was over, she'd be returning to New York, to her sweet son and her job, which was demanding but necessary. She knew Jack would remain here, probably not able to return even if the president did sign his pardon. It wouldn't be healthy to let the still angry Russians know where he was. Despite the peace and simplicity of their current surroundings, their lives were anything but simple…but that was the story of them.

Neither of them had ever been simple people, so it stood to reason that their relationship was…complex. To be honest, when she started working for Jack, she'd found him to be terrifying and thought he was a jerk and a bully…and kind of hot, but that was just an inescapable truth. She had come to see him as a brave but troubled man and after he'd kicked the drug addiction, he'd mellowed a bit…but then he ended up working in Washington and then on the run.

It was while he was thought dead that she first felt a real pull towards him. She'd met with him a few times and it had surprised her how his tired, forlorn state had made her hurt for him. Sometimes, she just wanted to give him a hug and assure him that somehow things would work out.

Of course she hadn't hugged him, until the day President Palmer was assassinated and Michelle and Tony were killed and wounded. That day, when he'd come out of hiding to save her, she'd run into his arms as though they were the safest place in the world for her to be, despite the men with guns right behind her.

She had feared for him the entire time he'd been held in China, cried when she thought Fayed was going to kill him and worried when he disappeared after saving the world again. She had been horrified when he'd had to sit before a senate subcommittee about the actions he'd taken while working for the CTU. He'd saved the world time after and now they were gonna play the blame game….

And of course, the world had gone to hell again, Jack had saved the day, been exposed to a lethal toxin and thought he was going to die. Chloe had a hard time holding it together when she found out and had never been happier to see Kim in her life.

During his recuperation, they'd actually spent a lot of time together, much to Morris's dismay. Nothing had happened, but it had been nice to have a chance to talk with Jack outside of the chaotic atmosphere that came with extra-legal, multi national crisis averting. When he'd started talking about moving back to California to be near Kim and Teri, she'd been sad but knew he'd be happy.

She loved him and knew he loved her. Maybe they weren't in love, maybe they were but it didn't matter. They understood each other, trusted each other and, in their world, that was worth more than anyone could imagine. Their world was crazy and dangerous and he'd given so much over the years that it wasn't a surprise that he wanted something else.

He just wanted a peaceful life with his family.

And of course the insanity that had resulted in his current fugitive state had put a kibosh on that.

She supposed her somber ponderings must have shown on her face, as Jack asked, "You okay?"

He was close again, and before she could respond, he reached up and smoothed back a tendril of hair that had escaped it's clip. His callused fingers brushed her ear and again they stilled, sharing each others space. His free hand found a place on her hip and he leaned forward as though to touch their foreheads together again.

Very few people could claim they'd been able to surprise Jack Bauer, but Chloe was one of the few.

Instead of allowing the bump to happen, she caught his jaw with one hand and met his eyes before leaning forwards herself and brushing her lips against his. The contact was gentle, tentative at first as Jack took a moment to respond, but oh…respond he did.

The hand on her hip tightened and the other he buried in her hair, cradling the back of her head. Encouraged, she wrapped her free arm around his shoulders, parting her lips when she felt the tickle of his tongue begging for entrance.

This wasn't exactly what she'd planned on doing on her vacation, but hey, she wasn't going to complain!

TBC…..