Bad Blood

Jack gave a grunt of satisfaction as his last four shots all went straight to the heart. He much preferred his hand gun to a rifle but with tomorrow's tactical exercise against SWAT it was best to be fully prepared. Those boys took their armaments seriously and he didn't want to be out shot by them for the third straight year. This year he hoped their newest agent, Chase Edmunds, would tip the advantage to CTU. Behind a sniper rifle he was deadly accurate.

Removing his ear-protection, he glanced along the line of prone shooters. They were all rising and checking their scores, all except Chase who was still testing the calibration of a new spotting scope. He had been shooting with almost 100 accuracy all afternoon but he still wasn't satisfied. Jack walked up and kicked the sole of his boot to get his attention. Chase rolled over and grinned up at him, slipping back the earmuffs.

"I'm leaving, you want a ride back to CTU?"

"No thanks, Jack. I want to stay for a bit and get this scope lined up, I'll catch a lift with one of the others."

"Don't forget we have a 6am start."

"Fine, see you there."

Jack remained behind his desk with another two hours of paperwork before he was able to leave for home. He stifled a yawn as he headed to the carpark but wasn't surprised to see Chase's black Jeep still in its customary spot. The kid had been putting in long hours since he transferred to CTU six weeks ago.

He got there early but it looked as if most of the others had already arrived. SWAT Commander Andrew Peters was just emerging from his cutomised Humvee and Jack hoped he could slip by unnoticed. Peters was a stickler for rules and regulations and always had some complaint to make about CTU. He ducked around the back of his SUV and headed over to Chase who was laughing with a member from SWAT whom he didn't recognise. He looked to be in his early 30's and had a sniper rifle slung over his shoulder, as did Chase.

"Don't forget which side you're on Chase. This is one of the guys you need to shoot today," said Jack.

"That's easy," laughed Chase. "Have you met Rick? Rick Taylor, SWAT, Jack Bauer CTU. Rick's recently arrived in LA, we worked SWAT together in DC."

"It's an honour to meet you, Sir," said Rick.

"And you," answered Jack as they shook hands. Stepping back, he added, "I'd better go find out what we're doing today."

"The CP is over there, I'm going that way myself," offered Rick.

"Chase, can you gather the team? I'll get our orders and meet you in the shade of those trees over there."

"Fine Jack... See you later Rick, good luck."

"You too Chase, you're going to need it," Rick smiled.

"So how do you like the move to LA, Rick?"

"Oh, it's great Sir, and the weather's a definite improvement. Chase has been showing me some of the LA night life which is also another improvement over DC."

Jack laughed, 'Please call me Jack... Thanks for the directions Rick, I'll see you later."

"Yes Sir... Jack."

As Jack entered the Command Post, Peters broke off his conversation with Ryan Chappelle. "Ah, here's Bauer, now we can begin, gentlemen. Bauer, you know Simmons?"

Lieutenant Marc Simmons stepped forward to shake Jack's hand. "How you doing Jack? Good of you to come along today and give us our third straight victory."

"I'm feeling good thanks Marc," he laughed. "I'm also feeling pretty lucky."

After the briefing Jack laid out the topo maps and went over the terrain with his team. The day promised to be very hot and they were grateful they were based in a dry river valley shaded by ancient cottonwood trees. As they listened the team quietly donned their body armour, the paint pellets were tiny but still stung. Extra water was handed out due to the heat; it would be a six hour exercise with no chance of resupply once they started.

Chase left them early. He had about 3 miles of open desert country to cover before reaching his position. His chosen sniper post was only 2 miles away but he wanted to avoid any outlying sentries and having been with SWAT, he knew their likely positions.

-----

Six hours later

Jack's euphoria over the successful mission quickly dissipated when he saw Chappelle striding towards him.

"What?" Jack sighed.

"Commander Peters was shot in the chest with a live round and isn't expected to survive. They think they've found the rifle used but the sniper is missing and his car's gone too." Gazing off into the distance, Chappelle tensed as he added, " Jack, it's Chase Edmunds."