When Tony woke up that fateful day, he knew it could end in one of two ways.

Either he would successfully manage to stop the CIP firewall from being breached and prevent him and David from being incriminated.

Or he wouldn't.

Any number of things could go wrong. Tony hadn't slept at all, mind running wild with the possibilities. In the morning, he spent more time with Michael than usual, feeling almost overwhelmed with the fear of the unknown about what would happen today. Tony hugged him just that second longer, just that little bit tighter. David must have noticed the change in his behaviour because he pulled him aside before they left.

"Everything alright?" He asked in that soft voice of his.

"Yeah," Tony said, cracking a half-smile. "Just tired."

When he met David's concerned eyes, all the guilt he felt about communicating with Chloe and Bill behind his back started to rise into his throat. He felt nauseous, his head was spinning, his mouth was dry. Tony quickly excused himself, walking to the bathroom as fast as he could without arousing suspicion. Tony planted his hands on either side of the basin as he retched, breathing heavily. His eyes were wet with tears. But when he slowly looked up at his haggard reflection, he reminded himself that he was doing this for Michael. He was doing this to keep him safe because David had gone too far this time. David was too caught up in thinking about the money. He was being greedy and losing sight of what was important.

And Tony knew he had every right to do what he had to do to protect his son.

The feeling of unease stayed with him as they left for the docks to pick up Michael Latham. When they arrived, instead of helping, all Tony could do was frantically look around him, waiting for the moment things would go horribly wrong. He knew that at some point, he would have to get to Bill and Chloe, and then they would finish it and send the Feds in. All Tony had to do was make sure he and David were far, far away from it. When, not if, he hoped, they got to that point, he could breathe easy. Tony would release the burden on his conscience. He would talk with David, and things would be okay, like always.

But Tony's bad gut feeling soon became warranted when he found himself staring down the barrel of Jack Bauer's gun.

Somehow he wasn't surprised that Jack had managed to find his way to DC on this particular day. Tony had heard about his trial and thought it was incredibly wrong, considering all that he'd been through because of the service he'd provided for the country. But the fact that Jack had also been roped into dealing with the Sangala conflict made all too much sense to Tony. Jack always seemed to have a knack for getting into situations like this. Still, he didn't let himself think about that for too long because now he was going to have to explain to Jack what was really going on. Tony would no longer be able to entirely hide his history with Emerson. But, he had promised himself he would keep Michael far away from the people in his past, and he had no intention of changing his mind about that.

Talking with Jack at the FBI or with Chloe and Bill was one thing, but convincing David that Jack was on their side was a play he wasn't confident he could pull off. David knew him very well. Too well. No matter how much of an experienced liar he was, the guilt had been eating him alive for so long. It was getting harder and harder to keep doing this. The more he did it, the more it hurt. This was different to establishing a cover, which got easier with time. No, with every new lie that came out of his mouth, a small part of his heart would break, and the urge to confess everything would grow. He deserved the pain he was in. He deserved to suffer like this for betraying him. All Tony could do was think about Michael and remind himself that his motives here were not superficial, that there was a reason for all of this. Still, he had to wonder whether David truly believed him.

That question was answered when David suddenly took Jack at gunpoint. David looked at Tony with such an intense, bitter expression, like his eyes were prying his soul open to search for the truth. To anyone else, David would appear mean, menacing, almost. But all Tony could see was pain. Pain that he had caused.

"You better tell me what the hell is going on."

Tony had raised his weapon in return without thinking. "Drop the gun, David."

"You know, I just couldn't figure out your play," Jack struggled against his grip, but David kept him pinned there. "I tried to give you some time so you'd come clean because we are like brothers, right, Tony?"

His fingers trembled. The mere thought of pointing a gun in his direction was too much to bear, let alone having the safety off with his finger on the trigger. "Put the gun down, David."

"You actually think I would let you steal those diamonds from me and run off?"

"It's not about the diamonds." He said firmly. "This is about killing innocent people. This is too far, even for you. And more than that, letting someone override the CIP device endangers the world he lives in. You know how much I worry-"

"You don't understand, I'm doing this for him," David said, cutting him off. "If you were so worried, why did you go behind my back?"

Tony opened his mouth to speak but struggled to find his words. "You...you were keeping me in the dark first-"

"Why did you betray me?" He roared.

"I was trying to protect you!" Tony insisted.

"Protect me?" David scoffed. "By ratting me out to the fucking Feds?-"

"I was going to get you out of it."

"I've had enough of this." David pressed the gun harder against Jack's head. "Put down the weapon, or I will kill him."

"Tony, take the shot!" Jack shouted.

"Shut up, Jack!"

"Put it down, Tony, or he's dead." David threatened, and Tony knew from his voice that this was his last chance before someone ended up dead.

He felt hot tears slide down his cheeks. He couldn't let Jack die, he couldn't. While he might not have told Jack everything, he still valued him as a friend. Tony also knew that Jack didn't deserve to die like this, die without knowing the truth, die just because his misfortune had roped him into this whole mess. And more than that, Tony could trust him to see things through and ensure the CIP firewall remained secure. For a second, he contemplated what would happen if he fired his gun. Regardless of where the bullet went, there would be blood, a lot of it. He would have to try and stop the bleeding, but it would be hard to get medical help. Tony would have to try his luck driving back to the compound, but it wouldn't be easy with the FBI on their tail.

There was another thought.

That firing his gun could, and likely would, kill David. He would have to tell David's crew. They would probably kill him. Tony would also have to tell Michael, explain to him that David would never be able to read him a story again, never be able to kiss him goodnight, never be able to play with him, which Tony knew would create such a gaping, unfillable hole in his son's life and in his.

He couldn't do this to his family. He wouldn't.

"Please," Tony begged. "Let's just talk about this. No more secrets, no more lying, no more hiding. From either of us."

Meeting his gaze, he tried to implore in every way he could that he didn't want it to be this way, that it didn't need to be this way. And when David looked in return, he realised just how much pain and conflict there was in Tony's eyes. Despite having known that Tony had betrayed his trust at some point over the last few months, up until now, he hadn't considered that it had been a difficult decision for Tony to make. Perhaps even more difficult than his choice to keep information about this job private, which had also felt betraying towards Tony. Both of them had kept things from each other. And it seemed that both of them were feeling guilty about it.

So if Tony wanted to stop the secrecy, then so did he.

Sighing, he whacked the back of Jack's head with the butt of his pistol and let him fall to the floor. He walked towards Tony, the relief plain in his eyes. David's anger faded to an expression of shame and disappointment.

"You want to talk?" David asked, his voice shameful. "Then let's talk."