"There's only one person I'm going to speak to: Jack Bauer."

Annie stared at the profile of the CTU agent on her screen. She'd spent a good hour reading through everything he'd done, not just the descriptions but any and all case files available. She had the top-level clearance for it, after all. Annie wanted to understand his change from a highly commended Delta Force agent to a CTU agent demoted to Head of Field Ops. He was intelligent, brave, and thought outside the box, and his actions had saved the country more than once. However, he hadn't been rewarded nearly as much as he should have. Instead, he was thrown under the bus for his 'ludicrous, extreme, unethical behaviour' according to one debrief. It didn't sit right with her. The whole reason for CTU's existence was to have an agency less bound by rules than the FBI that could investigate terrorists after the World Trade Center bombings. So why had Bauer been chastised?

But she wasn't quite able to focus on the juxtaposition of the man's achievements and unfair treatment when all she could think about was the monster in the other room. And, more importantly, the fact that Lena Smith or Nina Myers or whoever she really was had managed to destroy his life as well as hers. Although, she certainly felt a little guilty mourning Simon's death when Bauer had lost his wife. It made Annie wonder what sick part of this woman wanted the CIA to bring Bauer all the way to DC. To taunt him? Was that her desire here? To force the CIA's hand to bring someone who had already suffered enough, having most recently seen this woman pardoned and basically given a free pass to kill him by President Palmer, just for the slightest hope that she might talk.

She didn't know what to do. Arthur and Joan hadn't said anything, either. They weren't about to negotiate with her, but they weren't going to sit there and let their chance slip away at getting her to talk. Annie had watched her say those words, and she hadn't said them in haste or to make them go on a wild goose chase. No, she'd meant them. Jack Bauer meant something to her. Was it all just a game to her? Did she seek amusement from taunting this man? Or did she genuinely want to talk to him? Somehow, she didn't think the woman was capable of remorse. But Annie wasn't just going to see it as a trivial request. Not if it meant getting the truth out of her. And she prayed that Bauer would understand that, too, even if it meant facing someone he probably never wanted to see again. He seemed objective enough to be able to push past whatever emotions he might have regarding her. Right? Then again, Annie wasn't going to act like that was an easy task when all she could think of every time she looked at her was her responsibility for Jai and Simon's deaths. It made her furious. And Arthur and Joan knew that which was why they weren't letting her near Lena. Nina. Whatever her name was. She sighed. She needed to get in contact with Bauer. The longer Lena sat there in custody, the more of a chance she could be broken out, escape, or, worse, find some legal loophole by exploiting America and Russia's sensitive relations.

It would be about four in the afternoon in LA right now. And she knew CTU wasn't on alert for anything at the moment. At least, not in LA. So, hopefully, he wouldn't be too hard to reach. Annie wasn't sure why she was so nervous. Perhaps it was the latent adrenaline of the situation, the memories of the wood cabin still so vivid for her. She felt wrong for even having such fears when Bauer had suffered far worse. She dialled his listed contact phone number, and he picked up after only two rings.

"This is Bauer." He spoke warily, and she knew her number would have come up as private.

"Agent Bauer." She greeted. "This is Agent Annie Walker from Langley. Do you have a minute?"

He asked her for her badge number somewhat sternly. She recited it and listened as he typed something, presumably to verify the number and bring up her file. When he next spoke, he sounded a little friendlier. "What can I do for you? I'm, uh, not in charge of CTU anymore, in case that hasn't gotten around. Agent Tony Almeida might be who you want-"

"No, no." Annie interrupted, trying to sound relatively calm so he understood this was not some kind of active threat, no matter how much it made her body tense to think of Lena and what she was capable of. "This, well, Agent Almeida might have to know about this at some point anyway, but this is not mistaken. I want to talk to you."

"Shoot."

Annie took a breath. "We have a high-profile prisoner in our custody. She's demanding to speak to you and to you only."

"Who?"

She bit her lip. "That's classified information I can't tell you over the phone."

He laughed nervously. "You can't tell me the name of the person who wants to speak to me?"

"We can arrange a flight and accommodation for you to come to Virginia," Annie explained, reciting what Joan had told her to say rather than try to appease this man's confusion. "So you can speak to her in person."

"You expect me to drop everything here and fly over without explaining who I'll be speaking to or whether this relates to a relevant case?"

She sighed. "Everything will be clear once you come here. We've already drafted an email to your superior so he can assign someone to cover your work. We're not telling him any more than we've told you except that the CIA is pulling rank to bring you here."

Bauer seemed like he wanted to protest but couldn't find the words. Annie wondered whether he'd figure it out by the time he made it to Langley. Then again, Nina Myers, as he'd known her, had been exiled to a specified quadrant in North Africa. She wasn't supposed to be back in the States, let alone have travelled to Moscow and God knows where else in the last three years. That order had probably been the only thing to give Bauer peace, knowing that even though she had complete authority to kill him, she was too far away to be able to act on it and shouldn't dare to push that boundary if she wanted any hope at freedom. Had Arthur and Joan thought this through? Or were they willing to accept whatever emotional upset this brought Bauer because getting information out of Lena was the priority?

"Fine." Bauer conceded. "I'll be there. But if CTU needs me, I don't care what your superiors say; I'm leaving." He concluded before hanging up the phone. Annie wondered whether Bauer was still adjusting to not being in charge anymore.

But what plagued her mind more was trying to understand what Lena's game was here.

Because even in custody, Annie damn well knew she was still playing one.