Jack walked into the apartment slowly. Given the lack of security measures and the fact that the place was pretty barren, Jack was sure this wasn't supposed to be a permanent dwelling for Tony. This was closer to a squatter's hideout than a fugitive's. Perhaps Tony already knew a bit of what was going on and was preparing to leave. Jack wouldn't blame him for that.

Just as he debated calling Ricker to confirm he was in the right place, the muzzle of a gun touched the back of his neck. "Don't move."

Despite the position he was in, Jack smiled humourlessly. "Nice to see you, too, Tony."

Tony didn't bother replying, using his free hand to pat him down. He managed to find every gun on his person. All those unexpected hiding spots that would fool most cops wouldn't get past Tony. Jack wouldn't have expected any less.

"I'm not here to hurt you, Tony."

"Yeah, well, forgive me if I don't believe you," Tony retorted, placing the last gun on the table near them. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just blow your brains out right now."

"I'm here because I need your help," Jack explained.

He scoffed. "Me? You hate me, remember?"

"I have no one else," Jack admitted, his voice coming out a little more solemnly.

It must have struck Tony by surprise because he lowered his gun, allowing Jack to turn around and meet his eyes. There was still some scepticism and tension in his body language; Tony wasn't about to sign up for anything. But he was obviously willing to hear him out and trusted that he wasn't here to turn him in. A part of him still wondered whether this was a good idea. He knew Tony was going to enjoy pointing out his sheer hypocrisy. He just hoped that even if he got the whole I told you so speech, he would still be willing to help afterwards.

"What happened, Jack?"

"You haven't seen the news?"

"I know Hassan was assassinated, but I don't understand what that has to do with you."

Jack tried to find his words, and Tony knew better than to expect anything less than over-the-top complicated from him, walking over to the couch, turning off the TV, and gesturing for Jack to sit on the armchair. The place was scarcely furnished. The Cubs mug on the breakfast bar was the only personal touch he could see. He tried not to let his mind wander back to the easier days — if they could be called that — when seeing that mug on Tony's desk was the only constant in CTU.

"Talk to me. All I know is that you were already supposed to be back in LA with your daughter, so something didn't go as planned."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "You've been watching me."

Tony lifted a shoulder. "From a distance. We're in the same city. I needed to make sure you didn't know where I was."

"Chloe called me into CTU," Jack started after a beat. "She said that she needed my help and that nobody was taking her seriously."

"So, you dropped everything and went. God, you never change, do you?" Although his voice sounded cold, like he was trying to imply that all of this was his own fault and that he should know by now to walk away when CTU came calling, there was pain in his expression that made Jack believe he was being reminded of the past. It was probably something to do with Michelle. Everything always came back to Michelle for Tony.

Jack sighed. "One thing led to another. I tried to leave. I did. But once I saw what was going on, I just-"

"You couldn't look away, so you wanted to help," Tony summarised, cutting him off. "I know why you stayed, Jack. And I know there's at least one APB with your face on it, so just cut to the chase."

"Renee Walker was brought in," Jack explained, trying not to be so caught up by the fact that it was just a few hours ago, yet he felt like he had been through a lifetime with her.

Tony's eyebrows raised. Jack wondered how much he knew about what Renee had done after his arrest.

"I felt like she was being taken advantage of and dragged into something dangerous. I was looking out for her," he added, trying to justify this at every point so Tony understood his request wasn't just coming from a place of emotions. He proceeded to explain everything with the Russians and Hassan, the bureaucratic bullshit he dealt with at CTU, being there for Renee when they got back to his place. However, no matter how much he tried to convey this was about injustice, Tony knew him too well to not be able to detect the wobble in his voice and the way he couldn't meet his eye. "By the time we got to the hospital, it was too late. She'd lost too much blood."

He nodded slowly in understanding. "I'm sorry."

"I need to find the shooter and stop him," Jack said, his voice hardened with purpose. Taylor's trying to shove everything under the rug for the treaty, but the Russians need to be exposed." He pulled out the data card from Dana. "There's a journalist who was seeing Hassan. She can help spread the information."

"But you don't just want the shooter arrested, do you?"

Jack supposed there really was no bullshitting Tony. "His diplomatic immunity makes him impossible to target conventionally." As he said that, he knew from Tony's body language that he had struck a nerve.

He folded his arms. "Oh, so when you do something like this, you're a hero. When I do it, I'm a terrorist."

"I'm doing this directly," Jack defended. "I'm not letting innocent people get in the way."

"What the hell are you thinking, Jack? This is crazy, even for you. These are not local mercenaries. We are talking about international government officials. I tried my hardest to get the Chinese off your back, but this time, you're on your own."

"I need to do this, Tony," he insisted.

"You knew her for two days, Jack," Tony reminded him. "I'm sorry about her. I am. But get a grip here."

He really should take this as a sign to quit. He should turn himself into CTU, pass the information to Meredith Reed, and then get back on a plane to LA. If Tony, who had thrown his life, and many others, away for revenge, was telling him to leave it, then he really should listen. Still, a bigger part of him was hurting and didn't want to listen to do this rationally.

"But Renee was innocent in this."

"Yeah, so was my wife, but I didn't go around trying to piss off the Russians."

"No, you were just a domestic terrorist," Jack commented drily.

Tony didn't seem particularly offended by that, but he was clearly not impressed by the motivation of his request.

"You know, if you're trying to sweeten the deal for me, you're really not making a convincing case."

"I know I don't have much to offer you," Jack acknowledged. "In fact, I'm actually threatening your privacy just by being here. I'm not going to get into how you fucked me over, and I fucked you over because neither of us is innocent in this. But what I can say is that you would ultimately be doing a good thing," he tried to explain, wanting to cling to the logic of what the old Tony would do, his whole reason for being here in the first place. "You would be exposing the kind of corruption that I know you still care about. It's what drove you to kill Alan Wilson. I have to believe it wasn't just about Michelle; it was about justice. So help me get justice for Renee."

Tony looked at him for a long time and then at the data card on the table. Finally, he huffed. "Alright, I'll help you."

That took... much less begging than anticipated. Tony might have changed, but if anything, he was more stubborn than he used to be — if that was even possible. Jack didn't buy it. Tony might still have a few of his core ideals left in him, but Jack wasn't about to ignore what happened a year and a half ago.

"Why?"

"What do you mean why? I'm agreeing to help you, what's your-"

"You want something, or you just realised you can get something out of it. Which is it?"

Tony let out a breath. "As hard as it might be to believe, I don't want you getting yourself killed," he explained, and Jack heard a hint of softness in his voice that he knew was genuine. "But Walker nearly finished off Wilson after I never got the chance. I owe her for that."

And there it was.

Jack gave him a dirty look. "Don't reduce her to that. She wasn't doing that for you."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Are you going to be like this the whole time?"

"We'll see."