A/N: Thank you for reading. Shout out to amacma :) thanks for the review!
May 2004
On the first Monday in May, Jack walked into the Pentagon and pulled at the knot in his tie. He was nervous and had forgotten how much he hated the restrictiveness of ties. Jack made his way through DOD, being checked by security, and then to where Secretary Heller had told him to go.
"Hi," Jack greeted the secretary at the desk leading into the Office of the Secretary of Defense within the Pentagon. "My name is Jack Bauer. I have a meeting with Secretary Heller this morning."
"Good morning, Mr. Bauer," the secretary greeted. She was a young woman about Kim's age which made Jack chuckle to himself in his head, as she was very professional looking, when Jack still considered Kim, and therefore this woman, to be a child. "I'm Lauren. If you could have a seat, I'll let Secretary Heller know you're here."
Jack thanked her and took a seat in one of the chairs facing sideways. This chair allowed him to see not only anyone that came down the hall from the office but also allowed him to see anyone coming towards the office from the elevator. He was still in agent mode, trying to make sure he had the best vantage point.
"Secretary Heller will see you now," Lauren called out to him a few minutes later. Jack stood and approached the front desk again. "Down the hall. Last door on the left."
Jack thanked her again and walked down the hall. Secretary Heller's door was open and Jack stepped into the doorway.
"Jack, please, come in," Heller encouraged, standing at his desk. Jack stepped into the office and looked around at the spacious room with a tidy desk. Heller obviously liked things organized, structured. "Are you all settled with your move?"
"Yes sir," Jack said. "Everyone was very helpful."
"Good," Heller replied. "My senior policy analyst should be here any moment. I'll have her show you around and give you some protocols to work on. You'll be working together frequently so don't be afraid to ask her questions if you need help."
Jack knew from his research on Heller that his Senior Policy Analyst was his daughter, Audrey Raines. From what he could find about her, she had gone to Yale like Secretary Heller and Brown for her Masters indicating that she must be pretty smart. He wasn't positive, but figured that coming from money wasn't enough to get degrees from these two Ivy League colleges. However, Jack did notice that many of the jobs she had held were under her father's lead and Jack was sure that she likely got a lot of flack for that. Jack had told himself to reserve judgment of her abilities until he had worked with her for a bit.
"Hey, sorry," Audrey apologized as she walked into Secretary Heller's office. She turned to Jack. "You must be Jack Bauer. I'm Audrey Raines."
Jack stood and shook her hand, surprised. He wasn't sure what he was expecting Audrey to look like, but the first word that came to his mind was beautiful. She was tall and had very soft, feminine hands. She had a slender face with dainty features and a welcoming smile. But, what Jack found most alluring were her bright green eyes.
"Nice to meet you too," Jack agreed, quickly remembering that he was here for work and not to be noticing attractive features of coworkers.
"Where were you?" Heller asked her. Jack took note that Heller was not upset that she was late. Just curious.
"On the phone with Senator Phillips' office. Turns out they hadn't responded to our proposal because they never received it," Audrey informed him. Heller looked like he was about to give her instructions but she continued. "I've got it handled. I'm going to take Jack with me to talk to Marci about where the disconnect was and then I'll get him situated in his office."
Heller seemed to relax, knowing that Audrey had everything handled. Jack left Heller's office with Audrey and they walked down the hall. Audrey made small talk with him about his move from Los Angeles and how he felt about Washington so far. However, as she smiled at his responses, Jack couldn't help but sense an air of sadness behind her eyes. Not that she was faking a smile about meeting him, but just that her overall disposition in life right now was not as fulfilling as her smile might make someone think.
As they reached another floor that had computer stations instead of offices, Jack was reminded of CTU, the layout being very similar as well as the busyness of the workers. He was introduced to Marci and listened as Audrey discussed the proposal that had never made it to Senator Phillips. He was impressed by Audrey as he listened. He supposed that she could come off as a bit intimidating, being the Secretary of Defense's daughter after all, but instead she listened to Marci's explanation, helped her determine that there was an issue with a server, got IT involved, and never raised her voice or talked down to anyone that was involved.
After clearing up the issue, Audrey brought Jack back upstairs and showed him to his office. She explained the work that was waiting for him on his desk and asked if he had questions before leaving him to try it out for himself.
Jack started reading through some of the documents on his desk. There were some that had a significant amount of political jargon that Jack had to decipher but he found his way through, making notes about his thoughts on the policies, knowing that was why he was hired, to advise the Secretary on ways to improve policy and offer his opinions on the practicality of them.
Around four o'clock, there was a knock on his open door and Audrey poked her head in. Jack smiled and waved her in.
"How is it going in here?" Audrey asked, taking a seat across from him.
"I've made it through these," Jack told her, pointing to the pile on his right side, as the pile on his left was smaller but not nearly finished.
"Excellent," Audrey said. "Did you have any questions?"
Jack pulled out one of the documents that he had worked on and asked a few questions that he had been unsure about. Audrey answered them, not showing any sign of annoyance or condescension. In fact, he felt like she was happy to be answering his questions and discussing some of his thoughts. He was sure he would like working with her as she made him feel very comfortable with asking questions, bouncing ideas off of her, and assuring him that he was doing the job correctly. She would even add in her own advice when appropriate, and Jack appreciated her input.
"Well, it seems like you have this all under control," Audrey complimented, standing to head back to her own office. It was five-thirty now, and Audrey figured Jack would probably be leaving after their conversation. "Have a good night."
"You too," Jack told her. He looked at the pile of things that he hadn't completed today. "I'll stay and finish these."
Audrey looked at him confused. "Jack, you don't have to do that."
"I don't want to be behind on my first day."
Audrey chuckled and Jack smiled, liking the smile lines that formed around her eyes when she laughed. "I should have been more clear. These aren't all due tomorrow or anything. We typically meet with Secretary Heller on Thursdays to discuss these types of proposals. And, even then, if some of the lower priority ones don't get discussed, it's hardly the end of the world and we get to them the following week."
"Oh," Jack said, surprised. He had always worked in a fast paced, urgent job. Leaving unattended work unfinished simply had never been an option.
"Things move more slowly in Washington," Audrey told him. Audrey explained that reading these proposals did take up a majority of their time, but that they also attended meetings with the Secretary with various political figures, advised him when the President would ask for his opinion, and would travel with him to go to other defense agencies, military training facilities, and defense contractors.
After Audrey had assured Jack one more time that he could leave the rest of his proposals for tomorrow, Jack had agreed to head back to his apartment.
Audrey sat at her desk for another two hours after sending Jack home. She knew she had gone against everything she had told Jack. If there's nothing urgent, go home. But, home was the last place she wanted to be. So instead she worked ahead on work that could easily wait, wanting to pass the time.
Audrey thought about her new co-worker. He was not what she had expected. She had read his file, but meeting him today had been surprising. She had been expecting someone loud, overconfident, and harshly opinionated - although quite good at analyzing policy. However, she had been met with a respectfulness, open-mindedness, and humbleness that made her think she was going to get along well with Jack. Already she could tell that Jack was eager to learn and seemed to respect her input. Although, of course, she wondered, as always, if his respect was about her competent abilities or merely because he wouldn't want to disrespect his boss's daughter.
Audrey was not oblivious to the fact that some people doubted her abilities because of how she had come into her position. She was not oblivious to the fact that some people hid this thought process and were kind to her for the sole purpose of upward mobility. She felt she had become good at distinguishing between those people and those who truly respected her. Her initial analysis of Jack was that he fell into the latter.
"What are you still doing here?" Heller asked his daughter, popping into her office.
"I could ask you the same," she countered, raising her eyebrows at him.
"I was on a call with the President," he told her. "You are doing busy work."
"I'll head home soon," Audrey promised.
Heller closed the door, sat down across from her, and sighed. He hated seeing his daughter like this. He had noticed the way that Audrey's demeanor had changed over the last year or so. At first, he wasn't sure what was going on and when he would ask, he would get the obligatory, 'I'm fine', which he never believed.
Finally, a few months ago, Heller noticed that his daughter had been visiting him more. He saw her frequently at work but she didn't visit him at home very much as they spent so much time together already. She had said that she just missed spending time with him. She would cook him dinners and eat with him. Watch football with him. Play cards. Heller was loving it, but knew that she was just using him to avoid something else. It took many of these father-daughter days for Audrey to open up to him and tell him that she was extremely unhappy in her marriage, breaking down into tears about it.
Heller had tried to comfort her and convince her that all marriages had their ups and downs. That she needed to tell Paul what was going on in her head and work it out. He knew she had been trying but the miserable look on her face told him that it wasn't working.
Heller leaned back in his chair and Audrey matched his relaxation, pulling out the pins holding her hair in a tightly wound bun.
"What are you going to do, sweetheart?" Heller asked, sensing that Audrey was at her last thread with Paul.
"I don't know, Dad," she whispered, rubbing a hand across her brow. "I don't know what else I can do."
Audrey sniffled, trying not to cry. But, eight years of marriage. Ten years of being with the same person. It meant something. She had made vows promising to love Paul for the rest of her life. She felt ashamed that she didn't.
"I think I want to leave him," Audrey said, for the first time out loud.
Heller's eyes widened, surprised that his daughter was giving up. Audrey was not a quitter by any means. He could tell that Audrey wanted to fix her marriage but just didn't think it was possible.
"Have you two tried counseling yet?" Heller asked, wanting to make sure she had exhausted all of the options before moving to a separation or divorce. Heller greatly valued marriage and the importance of upholding vows. He was not okay with divorce, having grown up believing that marriage was a sacrament under God that could not be broken. However, his dedication to his daughter's happiness was far more important. If it came to divorce, he would support her, like always, trusting her judgment. But, he would do everything he could to stop it from getting to that point.
Audrey shook her head no. "I don't think he'd do it."
Heller shrugged. "Won't know until you ask."
Audrey nodded. Heller left her office.
Jack was happy to see that he had been right about his first impressions of Audrey. In the weeks that followed their initial meeting, Jack's thoughts that Audrey was intelligent, helpful, comforting, and focused were all confirmed. He was enjoying working with her, as she never made him feel incompetent for not understanding how Washington politics worked. He felt comfortable going to her with questions. He listened to her ideas and offered counter arguments, which she always welcomed and debated with him in a friendly conversation. She seemed to appreciate when he would use examples from his own experiences to explain his point.
Jack had also been right in his initial impression that she was beautiful. The more he worked with her, the more he noticed just how beautiful she was. He tried not to notice her soft, delicate features because the detail that stood out most to him was a shiny wedding band adorned with diamonds on her finger.
But, as hard as he tried, he couldn't help but notice how her blonde hair varied from dark to light giving her natural highlights. She often wore it in a bun but sometimes Jack would see her after she had taken it down at the end of a long day, thinking that it looked particularly beautiful that way, as her hair had a wave to it that framed her face perfectly. Her eyes were the most beautiful shade of green he had ever encountered and twinkled when she smiled or laughed. Her nose was slender, ending a heart shaped tip that he found endearing. Her face overall was slender with high cheekbones. She didn't wear much makeup, which Jack liked, thinking she really didn't need any at all.
The rest of her body amazed him too. She was very slender and often wore skirts to work. Jack admired her long legs that seemed to stretch for miles. Her calves were toned and he wondered if she worked out or whether walking in the heels that she wore each day gave her legs such a perfect shape.
He couldn't remember the last time he was so taken by a woman's appearance before. He felt bad for his attraction to her, knowing full well that she was married. Knowing full well that she was Secretary Heller's daughter. Knowing full well that she was here to work, not be ogled by her male colleagues.
Which he also knew she was probably used to. Jack had taken note over the last couple weeks that many of the men at the office checked her out, and not always as subtly as Jack did. Jack knew for sure that he had never stared at her chest while she was talking, something she had seen their co-worker, Chris, do once in a very obvious way. Jack could tell that Audrey had noticed and was uncomfortable about it by the way she shifted nervously and discreetly pulled her suit jacket closed as if she were chilly. He hoped that he had never made Audrey feel that way since he truly did respect her. Jack tried to convince himself that this was merely a physical attraction to Audrey, one that he would get over very soon.
However, in the last week of May, Jack laughed at himself for ever thinking that. He, Audrey, and Secretary Heller went on a business trip to Chicago, where Jack got to spend more time with both Heller and Audrey.
Jack had learned quickly that his boss respected his opinions and had good judgment, making difficult decisions that Jack could understand, even if he didn't always agree. Jack found that Heller was like Audrey, even-tempered, intelligent, hard-working, and down to earth. Jack enjoyed getting to know him.
The trip started on Heller's private jet, Jack getting to sit with Heller and Audrey on the plane. They worked for a bit, reviewing the policies that they would be discussing in Chicago one last time. When they finished, Heller relaxed, and Audrey and Jack followed suit.
Heller and Audrey started talking about non-work topics and made sure they were including Jack in the conversation. They made Jack feel welcomed and like he truly belonged in the conversation which he appreciated. Occasionally, Heller would ask Audrey about her friends and Jack listened intently, wanting to know as much about her as possible. What Jack learned from those conversations was that Audrey was very loyal to her friends and cared a great deal about them. She would have drinks with them on Friday nights and do yoga with her girlfriends on Sunday mornings.
What surprised Jack, however, was the lack of discussion of Audrey's husband. Heller didn't ask about him and Audrey didn't mention him in any of her stories. Audrey had only mentioned her husband once before, barely, when they had run into someone Audrey knew when leaving a meeting. The acquaintance had asked how Paul was doing and Audrey had given an 'Oh, he's good' chipper response, which Jack had detected as being very fake, since Audrey's interactions were always very genuine up to that point. Jack sensed that maybe their relationship wasn't doing well and perhaps that was why Audrey was staying particularly late at work even when unnecessary and why she seemed to have this air of sadness hiding in the background. He never dared to ask her about it, as they were merely friendly co-workers but not quite friends in the real sense of the word.
After the plane ride, they had meeting after meeting and Jack wondered for the first time if he was really cut out for this job. It was amazing how he could stay up for twenty-four hours straight at his old job and now it was only half way through the day and he was exhausted. Adrenaline must have been more powerful than he ever realized. When their meetings were over, it was late and Jack was hungry. He couldn't wait to grab something to eat and head back to the hotel to sleep.
However, Heller had offered to take Jack and Audrey to dinner since he felt bad that it was so late and wanted to thank them for the excellent work they had done. Audrey agreed and Jack tried to deny, not wanting to impose on them. But, Heller and Audrey insisted that they'd love to have him, so he agreed.
Jack enjoyed their dinner, liking this lighter side to Audrey and Heller. Jack got the feeling that they very seldom brought someone into their inner circle like this and appreciated that they obviously felt comfortable enough to bring him. At dinner, Jack felt as though they were trying to get to know him better through their conversation, but didn't feel like they were pressing him for information. Jack wondered if it was that obvious to them that he wasn't one to open up easily to others. But, Jack did share, telling them about Kim and other light-hearted things about himself.
Jack's favorite part about their conversation though was Audrey. She seemed to always know how to respond to his stories. The way she tilted her head and nodded as he spoke as if she were really listening and trying to understand him. Jack felt so at ease with her.
After dinner, Heller offered Jack and Audrey a ride back to their hotel. Because of some big concert that week in Chicago, the hotels had been pretty booked when they made reservations. This had led to Heller being in a different hotel than Jack and Audrey. Jack and Audrey's hotel was merely a short walk from where they had dinner while Heller's was a bit further.
"No, thanks," Audrey refused. "It's a nice night. I'd rather walk."
"You do realize how high the homicide rate in Chicago is, right?" Heller asked his daughter. Audrey rolled her eyes, though Jack could see that she was reconsidering.
"I don't mind walking either," Jack told them. Heller felt this was a viable option, as he trusted that Jack could protect his daughter on their short walk. Heller drove off after saying goodbye, leaving Jack and Audrey alone together. Audrey and Jack began walking towards the hotel.
"Thank you for walking with me," Audrey said to Jack. "I always enjoy a walk after a big meal."
"Me too," Jack agreed. "That restaurant was delicious."
Audrey smiled as if a thought had crossed her mind. Jack looked at her, wishing he could read her mind. Luckily, she decided to share. "My dad proposed to my mom there."
"Really?" Jack asked.
Audrey nodded. "Yeah, apparently he had some big proposal planned but they were on a trip and went to that restaurant and, as he tells it, my mom was just rambling on and on, which I guess he found endearing and he couldn't wait any longer."
Jack smiled, knowing exactly the rambling that Audrey was referring to. He wondered if Audrey knew that she was capable of doing the same, sometimes going off on tangents when discussing a proposal. Jack also found it quite charming.
"If she were still alive today, today would have been their forty-third wedding anniversary," Audrey told him.
"Wow," Jack expressed.
"My father doesn't say it, but I know their anniversary is a hard day for him."
"Yeah," Jack nodded, thinking of Teri. He let slip, "I get it."
Audrey looked at him, not with pity like Jack was expecting but with genuine understanding and a little bit of surprise that he had shared something with her that was rather personal. Granted she had already known about the death of his wife from his file. She nodded but did not ask further questions, which Jack was thankful for.
They continued to make small talk as they walked back, eventually parting when the elevator let them out on different floors. Jack went back to his room and collapsed into bed, knowing he was in trouble.
His conversations with Audrey today that extended beyond the scope of work made him recognize that he was not just physically attracted to Audrey but emotionally attracted to her as well. He found her engaging and was very interested in what she liked and disliked. He suspected that it might be a bit harder to shake this attraction than he had previously thought.