"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"

"You're gonna kill him, man. Give it a minute." Some nameless henchman explained.

Jack's arms were tied, as he hung, breathless, from a dim ceiling.

"The chip, Jack?" this was the hundredth time the question had been raised.

Another shocking current met his chest. Blood was smeared across the majority of his body. A few new scars and dents had been added to his collection. He groaned as he shook. His head moved rapidly as he tried to distract himself from obvious pain.

As the shocking stopped, Jack's head rolled forward, and his eyes slammed shut.

"Wake him up."

"Keep your hands to yourself"

"Mrs. Palmer?" Jack Bauer shouted from his post.

He ran to her side, and searched the room for the shadow he'd seen moments before.

"What are you doing here?"

"Agent Bauer? I should ask you the same thing."

To follow protocol, his hands gravitated to her shoulders. He patted them, removed her coat, and patted some more. His hands trailed down her blouse, the back, then the front.

"For God's sake, Jack! I'm not carrying a weapon."

He ignored her, like most people learned to do, and continued his work.

"Share"

"Do you have some way to shut her up that I'm not thinking of…?"

Jack had an answer to everything. It was just rarely spoken.

The agent beside him settled back into a sitting position against the bench. Jack studied the prisoner opposite him. She returned the favor.

Giving her a final glare, Jack looked at the man next to him. He passed the other agent a bottle of water, putting on a fake smile.

It was opened with a sigh of relief. The agent took a few sips, before collapsing to the floor of the van.

Nina's eyes widened, as Jack offered a drink to her.

"Don't copy someone else's work"

"What should I do with the files?" Edgar asked, tapping away at his keyboard.

"You've got the files?" this was a disbelieving Tony.

"Well, they're encrypted… I don't think I can open all of them…"

"I'll get Chloe on it."

Tony rested an arm on the man's desk.

"She can open them?"

"Doesn't need to; she can open up the FBI. We can just tap their copies."

"Don't be a distraction"

"I don't want my daughter involved."

"Come on, Agent Bauer. She's the closest match we have to Saunders."

"She has no field training."

"Yes I do!" Kim threw in, approaching a pout.

"She's not doing it."

Kim looked at her dad, attempting to further her case.

"She won't be in any danger, Agent Bauer. We just need her to keep Saunders's attention."

The agent in front of them flipped through a folder, then handed it to Jack.

"She's our only chance at this, Jack. She's just our diversion, okay? If she's in any trouble, I give you full permission to go in."

Jack wasn't happy.

"Fine."

"Treat others with respect"

Kim regretted nothing as she walked to her back door, a backpack dangling from her shoulder.

"You think she'll be okay?"

"She'll stay here, Jack. Don't you trust her?"

"No, Teri. Not right now, I don't."

Kim pushed the door open, feeling uneasy now. What? Her own father didn't trust her?

Well, that's what she got for sneaking around behind him. And her mother! Now, Kim shed a tear. But it was too late; she was already out the door.

"Follow directions"

"Ramon Salazar is to be released within the next six hours, or the virus will be unleashed."

The digital recording ended with that promise. Tony sat up, and looked at his coworkers.

"That's all we've got?"

Some of them nodded.

"What are our options?"

"Well," Michelle Dessler began, brushing a curl of hair from her face, "We've worked out a couple scenarios. The President will not back Salazar's release."

"So we need to find this threat and stop it within the six hours?"

More workers nodded, Michelle in particular.

Upstairs, Jack sat in front of his computer, though he stared at the soft flesh of his arm. As he held a needle close to his skin, the beginnings of a plan spun around deep inside of him.

A plan for Ramon Salazar's release.

"Come prepared"

"What channels do we have open to Europe?" the Agent in Charge asked, sitting down in The Conference Room.

"We don't have anything open with Europe right now… other than our trade we pick up from the UN." Agent Tony Almeida said.

"That's all we've got? I gave you all a half hour's notice to get to this meeting with everything you could find. Almeida, get me a feed to Europe now."

"I would… sir. But I'm not in charge of the data overseas." He glared at the woman seated beside him. Not intentionally.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think they'd be priority." Michelle, the woman in question, answered.

"They're priority one. Everybody else, be back in this room in twenty minutes, with everything. "

"Mind your own business"

"What have you been looking at, Ryan?!?" Jack demanded, entering his office.

"I don't answer to you, Jack."

"What have you been looking at? And I need specifics! What files have you opened within the last two hours?"

"This concerns the country's safety, Ryan. I need to know. Now."

"Just a bit of digging. Same as the analysts."

Jack wasn't convinced. Proof, compliments of Chloe, told him otherwise.


Author's Note: Any favorites so far? In either chapter...? Should I continue this? Any thoughts at all are greatly appreciated!

~Sally Sorrell