OOM: Knowledge
July 9th
7:58 AM
Something was wrong.
The moment she stepped into CTU, before she could even think of why she felt that way, Chris knew something was wrong.
Maybe it was how subdued things seemed. Everyone seemed so quiet, just staring at the computer screens ahead of them. The only sounds coming from the odd phone call and the soft murmur of conversation between Doyle and a few of the other field agents. From the first attack on, CTU seemed to be in a constant swirl of activity. It didn't matter how early or how late, there were people bustling around and talking over each other and the only pause was when there was a news break announcing another attack.
It couldn't be that. She was certain of it. There was nothing on the television screens like that and she'd been listening to the news on her drive over. Nothing could have happened in the few minutes it took for her to get from her car to inside CTU, right?
She also knew that it was possible she was imagining this. Ever since the close call with New York, she hadn't been sleeping well. That Curtis had gone dark and hadn't been heard from in three days wasn't helping. After last night, Detroit, she was certain they'd hear from him and she knew they had tried. The Detroit field office had their hands full after the attack so even though they had his extraction plan ready, it didn't do them much good if they couldn't find him.
As Chris made her way to her desk, Chloe caught her eye for a moment before quickly looking back to the screen. Something in that small gesture, the frown and the worried furrow of her brows, told Chris everything.
"Chris. We need to talk," Buchanan stood by the door of the briefing room and she nodded in response but her gaze went past him. Nadia and Milo were in the room already and she hadn't noticed until just now how dark it was in there and the only light came from the television screen.
"It's Curtis," she heard herself say.
Bill responded, she wasn't quite sure what he said but later she'd remember something about how Curtis' mutilated body had already been recovered. Maybe he had even mentioned that Curtis had been drugged or maybe that's something she wanted to believe. There was no reaction to what was being said, nothing in his unfocused gaze that said he knew what was happening even as his head was pulled back and the blade came closer.
"...family was informed. The video is online, Nadia and Milo are working on a trace. I'm going to need you to contact the Detroit office and brief them on the case and whatever Curtis told you about what was happening there. Can you do that?"
They held up his head and even after everything, she still couldn't believe that had happened to someone she knew.
"Yeah," she said, looking back at Bill. "I can do that." Did they know that his squad had been ambushed in Iraq, his men killed just like that? Chris wondered how many people knew that about Curtis. When he told her a few weeks ago (they'd been talking about Iraq, the wars, the people, being there) she knew it wasn't something he mentioned to a lot of people but it wasn't hard to learn. Something like that was hard to hide.
Later, after she called Detroit, after she left a message for Jack, around lunch when most people were eating and Doyle was packing up Curtis' office, Chris went into the bathroom and cried. They had failed, she had failed. They couldn't save one agent, they couldn't save all the people before him and they would fail again.
7:58 AM
Something was wrong.
The moment she stepped into CTU, before she could even think of why she felt that way, Chris knew something was wrong.
Maybe it was how subdued things seemed. Everyone seemed so quiet, just staring at the computer screens ahead of them. The only sounds coming from the odd phone call and the soft murmur of conversation between Doyle and a few of the other field agents. From the first attack on, CTU seemed to be in a constant swirl of activity. It didn't matter how early or how late, there were people bustling around and talking over each other and the only pause was when there was a news break announcing another attack.
It couldn't be that. She was certain of it. There was nothing on the television screens like that and she'd been listening to the news on her drive over. Nothing could have happened in the few minutes it took for her to get from her car to inside CTU, right?
She also knew that it was possible she was imagining this. Ever since the close call with New York, she hadn't been sleeping well. That Curtis had gone dark and hadn't been heard from in three days wasn't helping. After last night, Detroit, she was certain they'd hear from him and she knew they had tried. The Detroit field office had their hands full after the attack so even though they had his extraction plan ready, it didn't do them much good if they couldn't find him.
As Chris made her way to her desk, Chloe caught her eye for a moment before quickly looking back to the screen. Something in that small gesture, the frown and the worried furrow of her brows, told Chris everything.
"Chris. We need to talk," Buchanan stood by the door of the briefing room and she nodded in response but her gaze went past him. Nadia and Milo were in the room already and she hadn't noticed until just now how dark it was in there and the only light came from the television screen.
"It's Curtis," she heard herself say.
Bill responded, she wasn't quite sure what he said but later she'd remember something about how Curtis' mutilated body had already been recovered. Maybe he had even mentioned that Curtis had been drugged or maybe that's something she wanted to believe. There was no reaction to what was being said, nothing in his unfocused gaze that said he knew what was happening even as his head was pulled back and the blade came closer.
"...family was informed. The video is online, Nadia and Milo are working on a trace. I'm going to need you to contact the Detroit office and brief them on the case and whatever Curtis told you about what was happening there. Can you do that?"
They held up his head and even after everything, she still couldn't believe that had happened to someone she knew.
"Yeah," she said, looking back at Bill. "I can do that." Did they know that his squad had been ambushed in Iraq, his men killed just like that? Chris wondered how many people knew that about Curtis. When he told her a few weeks ago (they'd been talking about Iraq, the wars, the people, being there) she knew it wasn't something he mentioned to a lot of people but it wasn't hard to learn. Something like that was hard to hide.
Later, after she called Detroit, after she left a message for Jack, around lunch when most people were eating and Doyle was packing up Curtis' office, Chris went into the bathroom and cried. They had failed, she had failed. They couldn't save one agent, they couldn't save all the people before him and they would fail again.