Milo stopped typing for a moment to glance up at Morris, frowning. Morris's attention was laser-focused on his screen, where he was quickly closing in on identifying the engineer Fayad planned to use to fix the bombs. That was the constant dilemma with Morris. When he was bored, working with him was worse than wrangling lions. But when he was invested in a task, he powered through it with speed and ingenuity, making him among the best out there. CTU had hired Morris a second time, despite his history of insubordination, for a damn good reason.

Still, the decision not to tell Morris about his brother twisted through Milo like a knife, carving him up from the inside. If the situations were reversed and someone Milo loved was sitting in hospital, slowly dying of radiation poisoning, Milo would've wanted to know. He would've gone scorched earth if he'd missed his opportunity to say goodbye, only to find out later that a colleague had known all along.

But Chloe had only just convinced Morris to behave somewhat professionally. Finding out that his brother was dying from radiation exposure would send them right back to square one, with Morris distracted and Milo on edge.

And as much as it pained him to admit it, Milo needed Morris at full capacity today if they were going to get through this crisis. The entire country did, particularly the million people who would die if they didn't identify and secure this engineer in time.

Milo sighed and scanned over the profiles of local engineers he'd been canvassing as a contingency. Without Morris' code, finding the right person might only be possible in retrospect.

When they had the engineer in CTU custody or protection, whichever the case might be, then Milo could tell Morris. If Morris held the delay against Milo, then he'd just have to accept his anger as a deserved but ultimately necessary consequence.

Someone moved in the corner of Milo's eye. Chloe strode over to check on Morris' progress.

For a moment, Milo regretted not telling Chloe about Timothy earlier to see her thoughts. She'd lived through more crises than Milo had, so she knew all too well the importance of staying focused. But Milo had been about to explain the situation when guilt fused his mouth shut. He'd wanted her opinion, but more than that, he'd wanted someone to share the burden of the decision. But as Morris' girlfriend, there was nothing Chloe could say except to tell him everything, which Milo couldn't allow. Telling her then ordering her to stay quiet would be the least kind thing he could do.

Milo was watching them so intently that he saw the instant their faces whitened with horror. Morris reeled back from the screen then, at something Chloe said, he leant forward again and started typing furiously. Almost desperately.

Heart dropping and mouth bone-dry, Milo stood and hurried over. If Morris' code didn't work… if they didn't find Fayad's engineer in time…

'What happened?' he demanded as soon as he was close enough. 'Did the program stop?'

'No, it's not that,' Chloe said, her voice paper-thin and reedier than he'd ever heard it. 'Give him a minute.'

By the time Milo reached their station, Morris had finished whatever check he was running. Running a restless hand down his cheek, he said shakily, 'It's accurate. We found their engineer.'

'Then what's wrong?' That should have been great news. When neither of them answered, Milo rounded the table to stand behind Morris – and immediately froze as the heavily granulated pixels finished forming the face of Morris O'Brian. 'You're their engineer?'

'Not if I have anything to say about it,' Morris snapped, but Milo ignored the insubordination this time. Chloe put a comforting hand on Morris' shoulder.

'We have to tell Bill,' Milo said, vaguely aware of Chloe grabbing a phone to do just that. 'And Morris, I think this goes without saying, but you're staying inside CTU until this all blows over. I don't care if it takes hours or weeks.'

'You'll get no complaints from me.' Morris' gaze was still trained on the screen as if there were a chance the image would change shape into somebody else.

Never had Milo been more relieved he'd made a jerk move. If Morris had left CTU for the field hospital, who knew where he'd be right now? Sitting beside his dying brother or captured by Fayad's men?

For that matter, was the tip about Timothy O'Brian even accurate? Milo would have to assign someone to check. Either way, visiting him was out of the question.

'Bill, we need a field agent assigned to Morris at all times, even inside the building,' Chloe was saying, her voice rising in panic. 'Maybe even two. Terrorists have infiltrated CTU before, and we can't risk someone getting in and abducting him.' She paused, then added, 'See you soon.'

She hung up the phone and turned back to them. 'Bill will be right here. He's going to talk through security with us then.'

In a way, Morris being Fayad's preferred engineer was the best possible outcome for them. It was tough to know that one of their own was in danger, but he was already under CTU protection and fully briefed on the situation. They wouldn't need to expend their already limited resources on locating the engineer and racing Fayad there.

'They're not going to get to you,' Milo assured Morris, who nodded decisively.