One day One very bad day

by jediknigh5

President Bartlett prepares to officially certify an ally in the war on terror, but others are trying to stop this. In desperation CTU must soon turn to former agent Jack Bauer. But Bauer hasn't been active since his daughter Kimberly was murdered. Can he keep his emotions in check long enough to complete his mission and save thousands of innocent lives?

58. Chapter 58

7:25

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Abby Bartlett tried to comfort her daughter Zoey. Zoey seemed to be doing okay, considering all that she'd been through. Zoey went outside, accompanied by two Secret Service agents, for a ciggarette. Abby thought that Zoey had quit, but could understand why she needed this right now. A part of Abby blamed herself. When Jed talked about running for president, he admitted that there would be lunatics who would want to hurt him or his family. Abby had assumed that Secret Service would be able to protect them. Agent Pierce had done an amazing job protecting Zoey, but there was only so much that one agent could do. Now Zoey had two agents, Hartley and a young looking woman named Molly Quinn. Abby could only pray it was enough. Meanwhile president Bartlett was still in his meeting with Deby and Bashir. It seemed likely that they would soon need seperate rooms. Bartlett was willing to act as an intermediary between them, like Carter did for Sadat and Begen at Camp David. Leo came in to inform him that he had an urgent phone call from Ryan Chapelle. Bartlett went to another room to take the call.

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Bartlett: What's so urgent?

Chapelle: I talked to the foreman at one of the plants. He used the expression "Everything's rosy."

Bartlett: Is that a distress signal?

Chapelle: Not one of our codes. But this foreman, our files say his father was a truck driver. "Everything's rosy" is a signal they used to say the driver couldn't talk freeley. But the code is outdated. Their pressure has decreased by more than 30% in the last hour. In less than 30 minutes, if I'm right, they'll be able to release nerve gas from this plant.

Bartlett: Are you sending your men there now?

Chapelle: That's just it sir. Our resources are spread thin after the attack on CTU. If I'm wrong, and we go there now, we might not be able to stop the real target. It's your decision sir.

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Bartlett believed that Chapelle was trying to pass the buck, in case things went bad. But he was right, it was the president's decision right now. If he sent them to this plant, and they were wrong, 100,000 American lives might be lost. But if he waited too long, the same bad outcome. Bartlett knew that this particular plant was probably the target, so he ordered Chapelle to send his teams to stop them. CTU, including Jack Bauer and Curtis Manning, rushed to head out. Jack had promised George Mason he would do whatever it took to keep his son John safe, he intended to make good on that promise.

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7:33