(Untitled)

[action_antihero]

It's getting dark by the time Jack pulls his car into the driveway of Michelle's house. Turning off the engine, he closes his eyes for a moment, leaning his head back. The headache that's been pounding at his temples has settled to a dull throb

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[geeky_agent]

It happens suddenly, one moment she's in a deep, dreamless sleep and the second, Chris is awake without knowing why. Her heart pounds and she can't even think of why she's afraid, her only thoughts were on getting the gun fromn her purse is and making sure Caiti is safe. She doesn't sit up, instead her hand reaches for her purse strap and in a voice stronger than she feels, Chris demands, "Who is it?"

[action_antihero]

He startles a little at the sudden noise from the living room; he hadn't even noticed that there was someone in the room. "It's me," he calls out, walking toward the living room couch. "Chris? What are you doing down here?"

[geeky_agent]

Her heart is pounding still and she just notices now her hands are shaking. Sitting up on the couch to make room for Jack, Chris tells him, "Caiti's upstairs and I didn't plan on sleeping for long. I just wanted to --," her voice trails off and she looks around for a clock. "What time is it? Is Michelle here?"

[action_antihero]

"No, she... It's a long story. She's in holding at CTU, but Bill's working with Division to release her," Jack says, taking a seat on the couch next to her.

[geeky_agent]

"When, will she..." The tired haze she's in makes it hard to think but halfway through the sentence, his words catch up with her. Chris stares at him. "Wait, did you say holding?"

[action_antihero]

"Yeah," Jack says, rubbing his forehead. "She killed Henderson. The memory stick had recordings on them that proved Henderson knew I was alive last December. He was the one that told the Chinese I was alive. Michelle heard that and..."

He leans back against the back of the couch, closing his eyes. "I tried to stop her, but I couldn't talk her down. Maybe I didn't want to."

[geeky_agent]

"Why would you want to?" she asks in a too-sharp voice, it's not how she wanted to say it but she doesn't clarify that and she's not really sure why not. Even though Chris thinks she already knows the answer to that, she lets the question hang in the air.

[action_antihero]

"Because considering who else was on the recordings, it was harder to make a case against Henderson's collaborator without his testimony about the recordings."

There's no easy way to say this, and Jack doesn't spend much time looking for it. "Henderson was working with Charles Logan; he's the one behind the terrorists getting the nuclear bombs and Palmer's death. Even if he didn't ask for Palmer to be killed in so many words."

[geeky_agent]

"The President?" It makes sense and it's been a long time since she's held any illusions about the integrity of the White Houser and never about the Logan White House. Still, her mind refuses to grasp what Jack's telling her. "He knew what Henderson was doing or he ordered it?"

[action_antihero]

"He knew of some of it. When it came to Palmer, he just gave orders to Henderson to 'deal with' Palmer, as he had something that led to Henderson. He insists that he didn't know then when Henderson said he'd deal with Palmer he meant he'd kill him. The nukes and China...he ordered it, or knew exactly what was going on and gave it his blessing," Jack says, slowly. At any other time he'd be hard pressed to keep the bitterness out of his tone, but at the moment he's too tired.

[geeky_agent]

Chris opens her mouth to say something but nothing comes out, what is there to say to that? It's not a surprise, not when she thinks about the kind of person she'd always known Logan to be and not when she now knew who Henderson. Tired, back hurting and mind racing too fast for her to hold onto one thought, she just slumps back onto the couch with a mumbled, "Oh. So, everything was his fault."

[action_antihero]

Jack shifts on the couch to wrap and arm around her shoulders. "Yeah. His and Henderson's. We don't know who came up with the plot first or how they were even got connected, but once they did...," Jack says, his words becoming less and less distinct.

[geeky_agent]

Leaning against him, she closes her eyes for a moment, suddenly aware of how heavy her limbs feel and how it's too much effort to keep her eyes open for long or to try to figure any of this out. "Everyone is ok, right? Michelle is? Kim? Chase?"

[action_antihero]

He nods, before realizing that she can't see it. "However okay they can be right now. I stopped at Kim and Chase's before I came home, to tell her about Henderson and Logan. Mainly Henderson."

[geeky_agent]

"How did she take the news?" Chris had known Kim was close to Henderson, his goddaughter even, if her memory at this late hour could be trusted. Then, realizing who she's talking to, "How are you doing with all this?"

[action_antihero]

"Kim's...well, about what you'd expect, considering how supportive Henderson's been of her in the last couple years; or seemed to be. As for me...I don't know. Even with the accusations that led to Henderson leaving CTU and with us not having spoken to each other for years...part of me can't believe he actually did this. He was a true believer, convinced that what he was doing was protecting the country. Same with Logan. I mean I don't have any misconception about the President being above scandal but...Watergate is a hell of a distance from helping terrorists get suitcase nukes."

He sighs again, and it turns into a yawn. "I dunno. I'm too exhausted to know how I feel at the moment."