Another One of Those Days - Chapter 1 - Bill/Karen
Title: Another One of Those Days
Pairing: Bill/Karen
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1900 (this chapter)
Summary: Before day 6, Bill finds his thoughts drifting to someone on the other side of the country.
Disclaimer: I don't own 24. That belongs to FOX and the creators of the show.
Author's note: This is an old 24 fic that I wrote almost two years ago. I have decided that I'm only going to re-post the ones that I can actually stand to read again (which is only a couple, so there probably won't be too many).
The sun had long since risen, set, and risen again over CTU Los Angeles. It had been another one of “those days,” as Bill Buchanan had dubbed them. When he’d taken this job, he had gotten used to having these kinds of days every once in a while, but over the past two months, almost every day had been one of “those days.” He was physically and mentally exhausted. Unfortunately for Bill and the rest of the CTU staff, the suicide bomber attacks that started eight weeks ago showed no sign of stopping any time soon. All of America would give anything to stop them, but the terrorists were relentless. The best the CTU staff could do was to get sleep whenever there wasn’t anything happening on the West Coast.
It was in one of these hiatuses that Bill found himself sitting in the Situation Room with Chloe, who was finishing up a task before heading home to get as much sleep as possible. They had finally finished dealing with a string of suicide bombings all throughout California. There had been several bombings in and around Los Angeles, as well as one in San Diego, San Francisco, and Sacramento. What had prompted the terrorists to hit California so many times in just over a 24 hour period, Bill didn’t know. All he knew was that he was glad to see the end of this long day.
Bill closed his eyes and rubbed his temple briefly. On top of everything, a strong headache had been steadily forming for a few hours, and he couldn’t wait to get home and find some aspirin. When he re-opened his eyes, he saw Chloe still sitting across the table from him, scowling at her laptop screen and typing away. She seemed oblivious to the fact that everyone else had already left to go home. Bill sighed tiredly.
“Chloe,” he said gently. Her head snapped up. “You know you can go home now,” Bill reminded her. Chloe’s scowl only became more pronounced and she turned back to the computer.
“I’ve just got a few more tasks to finish and then I’ll go,” she replied stubbornly.
“Chloe,” Bill said again, more forcefully this time. Her head snapped up again. “Go. You need to sleep, and you’re not the only person who can do those tasks.”
“Yeah, but I’m much more efficient than anyone else,” she snapped back. “It would take Michaels an hour to do what I can do in fifteen minutes,” she argued. As much as he wanted to, Bill couldn’t argue with that logic; it was true. He tried a different tactic.
“I need you to be alert tomorrow, and I’m not above ordering you to go home,” he said sternly. Why did Chloe have to be so stubborn? He was telling her to go home, for goodness sake! Most people would jump up and be out the door in seconds if their boss told them to go home.
Chloe glared at him for a long moment as if trying to wear him down through a silent test of wills. When he remained unwavering, she relented. “Fine,” she finally huffed. She started off-loading her tasks to Michaels. “I hope you take your own advice, Mr. Buchanan.”
“And what is that supposed to mean?” Bill asked evenly. Chloe shifted a little like she was trying to find the right words, but she continued on without much hesitation.
“Well, you haven’t done very much to hide the bad mood you’ve been in lately,” she stated bluntly. Before he could stop her, she was already continuing as fast as she could talk. “I mean, I know you’ve been on edge ever since your wife left for DC, but --”
“You know, you are way out of line,” Bill interrupted, the volume of his voice steadily rising. “I don’t want to hear any more about my problems, understood?” Maybe he was overreacting to Chloe’s honest observation, but something about it irritated him. More than Chloe’s usual quips did, of course, of which there had been many directed at him.
“Yeah, sure, whatever,” Chloe replied in her trademark, sarcastically off-hand tone before she continued typing.
Bill propped his elbows up on the table and let his head sink into his hands. Chloe’s comment had sparked in him the incredible loneliness that he felt every time he thought about Karen. She had been ordered to Washington two months ago when this crisis had started, and Bill hadn’t seen her since. He’d talked to her, sure, and on an almost daily basis at that, but nothing could help that sinking feeling he felt when he went home to an empty house every night. Oh, how he wished he could just see her smile again. He needed to see that beautiful smile, hold her in his arms, and kiss her smiling lips, even if it was just for an afternoon. He didn’t know how much longer he could stand being without her.
“God, I miss her,” Bill whispered, his head still in his hands. Chloe looked up at him like he had just grown a second head. Bill looked up and, upon seeing her face, quickly stammered, “Uh, I’m, uh, sorry, was that out loud?” A stupid question, really, as Chloe’s look was the only answer he needed. He cleared his throat.
“Sorry,” he muttered again. Chloe just rolled her eyes and turned her focus back to her laptop. After a few seconds, she closed it up and stuffed it into her bag, which she slung over her shoulder. Without a word, she got up and walked to the door. She opened it and looked like she was about to leave, but almost as an afterthought, she turned back to Bill.
“You know, if you ever wanted to take a day off to fly out to DC, we could handle it here,” she informed him. Bill furrowed his eyebrows in slight confusion; this kind of kindness was very un-characteristic of Chloe. It wasn’t unwelcome, but it was slightly confusing. But then Chloe added, “Even though Hammond would probably eat you alive if you tried to take a day off in the middle of this crisis, we could still handle it here.”
Bill couldn’t help but smile. That was more like Chloe. He did appreciate the offer, but she was right; Hammond would have him fired before he could buy a plane ticket.
“Thanks, Chloe,” he said anyway. “Now go home. I don’t want to see you back here until tomorrow.”
“Right.” She turned and left without another word. Chloe’s abrupt actions and changes of mood never ceased to surprise Bill. The day I figure out what goes through her mind is the day that I need to quit this job and become a psychiatrist, he briefly mused to himself.
After a second, Bill sighed and glanced around the empty room. When he determined that nothing required his immediate attention, he pulled out his cell phone. He had her number on speed dial and she answered after two rings.
“Hayes.”
“Hey, it’s me,” Bill said gently. Karen’s heart skipped a beat upon hearing her husband’s voice. Her tone immediately softened.
“Hey, I was wondering when I was going to hear from you.” She couldn’t help but smiling as she spoke. It was a silly habit, she knew, but when she brought it up once with Bill, he insisted that he could hear the smile in her voice.
“Yeah, I’m so sorry I haven’t called earlier. We’ve been in up to our necks trying to deal with the latest bombings.”
“You don’t have to apologize. I can only imagine what it’s like out there,” Karen replied. “Are you home yet?”
He paused, briefly considering his answer. Karen wouldn’t be happy that he was still at CTU, and that he really had no plans of leaving any time soon. However, he knew that he couldn’t lie convincingly to her.
“No, I’m not,” he said. Before she could argue, he continued, “I need to be here because we’re still wrapping up from everything that’s happened in the past 24 hours.”
“You know you don’t have to be there right now, Bill,” Karen said sternly, seeing right through his excuse. “Now go home and get some rest.”
“Yes ma’am,” he replied mock-seriously. Karen wasn’t amused.
“I’m serious,” she said. “You shouldn’t overwork yourself like you tend to do when I’m gone.”
“I still have a few more things to do here, but I’ll go home after that,” Bill answered somewhat defensively. He didn’t consider himself a work-a-holic, but there was no denying that he usually found any excuse to stay at work when Karen was out of town.
“Promise?”
Karen’s concern for him made Bill miss her even more. Still, he couldn’t help but grin at her almost child-like question.
“Yes, I promise,” he assured her.
“Good.”
“How are you holding up over there?”
“As well as can be expected in the middle of a national crisis.” There was a long pause on Karen’s end. “I miss you so much,” she said quietly.
Bill closed his eyes. Every time she said that, he got an unexplainable guilty feeling that he just couldn’t shake. He had encouraged her to take the job as National Security Advisor when Wayne Palmer had offered it to her, despite her initial reservations. He had thought that she would be happier in the long run if she took the job, but now he could see how wrong he had been. He couldn’t help but feel solely responsible for causing her unhappiness, something that haunted him whenever he let his guard down.
“I miss you too, sweetheart,” he whispered.
“God, I just want this all to end soon so I can come home,” Karen stated exhaustedly.
“I know, and we’re doing everything we can over here to end this soon,” Bill assured her. He was more trying to assure himself than anything, but Karen was glad to hear it too. “And I will personally see to it that we continue to do everything we can,” he added almost jokingly. Karen couldn’t help but smile.
“I know you will,” she said. There was a slight pause before she continued, “Bill, I have to go to a briefing that’s starting in a minute. I’ll call you later tonight.”
Bill knew when he called her that they would be interrupted by some business or another sooner or later. It served as a reminder to him of the incredible distance between them. He just missed having uninterrupted time alone together, even if it was as simple as having dinner together after a long day at work.
“Okay, I’ll talk to you then,” he replied. “I love you, Karen.”
“I love you too.”
“Bye.”
The phone line went dead as she hung up. Bill closed his phone and just sat there tiredly for a moment. Briefly, he considered calling Brad Hammond at Division to see if he could fly out to DC for a day. He quickly dismissed the idea, though. Oddly enough, Chloe’s prediction of what would happen in that situation was probably closer to the truth than it was far from it. No, the only way that he was going to get Karen back any time soon was if this terrorist plot was resolved soon. Bill could only pray that a way out of this crisis presented itself soon.
Chapter 2...
Pairing: Bill/Karen
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1900 (this chapter)
Summary: Before day 6, Bill finds his thoughts drifting to someone on the other side of the country.
Disclaimer: I don't own 24. That belongs to FOX and the creators of the show.
Author's note: This is an old 24 fic that I wrote almost two years ago. I have decided that I'm only going to re-post the ones that I can actually stand to read again (which is only a couple, so there probably won't be too many).
The sun had long since risen, set, and risen again over CTU Los Angeles. It had been another one of “those days,” as Bill Buchanan had dubbed them. When he’d taken this job, he had gotten used to having these kinds of days every once in a while, but over the past two months, almost every day had been one of “those days.” He was physically and mentally exhausted. Unfortunately for Bill and the rest of the CTU staff, the suicide bomber attacks that started eight weeks ago showed no sign of stopping any time soon. All of America would give anything to stop them, but the terrorists were relentless. The best the CTU staff could do was to get sleep whenever there wasn’t anything happening on the West Coast.
It was in one of these hiatuses that Bill found himself sitting in the Situation Room with Chloe, who was finishing up a task before heading home to get as much sleep as possible. They had finally finished dealing with a string of suicide bombings all throughout California. There had been several bombings in and around Los Angeles, as well as one in San Diego, San Francisco, and Sacramento. What had prompted the terrorists to hit California so many times in just over a 24 hour period, Bill didn’t know. All he knew was that he was glad to see the end of this long day.
Bill closed his eyes and rubbed his temple briefly. On top of everything, a strong headache had been steadily forming for a few hours, and he couldn’t wait to get home and find some aspirin. When he re-opened his eyes, he saw Chloe still sitting across the table from him, scowling at her laptop screen and typing away. She seemed oblivious to the fact that everyone else had already left to go home. Bill sighed tiredly.
“Chloe,” he said gently. Her head snapped up. “You know you can go home now,” Bill reminded her. Chloe’s scowl only became more pronounced and she turned back to the computer.
“I’ve just got a few more tasks to finish and then I’ll go,” she replied stubbornly.
“Chloe,” Bill said again, more forcefully this time. Her head snapped up again. “Go. You need to sleep, and you’re not the only person who can do those tasks.”
“Yeah, but I’m much more efficient than anyone else,” she snapped back. “It would take Michaels an hour to do what I can do in fifteen minutes,” she argued. As much as he wanted to, Bill couldn’t argue with that logic; it was true. He tried a different tactic.
“I need you to be alert tomorrow, and I’m not above ordering you to go home,” he said sternly. Why did Chloe have to be so stubborn? He was telling her to go home, for goodness sake! Most people would jump up and be out the door in seconds if their boss told them to go home.
Chloe glared at him for a long moment as if trying to wear him down through a silent test of wills. When he remained unwavering, she relented. “Fine,” she finally huffed. She started off-loading her tasks to Michaels. “I hope you take your own advice, Mr. Buchanan.”
“And what is that supposed to mean?” Bill asked evenly. Chloe shifted a little like she was trying to find the right words, but she continued on without much hesitation.
“Well, you haven’t done very much to hide the bad mood you’ve been in lately,” she stated bluntly. Before he could stop her, she was already continuing as fast as she could talk. “I mean, I know you’ve been on edge ever since your wife left for DC, but --”
“You know, you are way out of line,” Bill interrupted, the volume of his voice steadily rising. “I don’t want to hear any more about my problems, understood?” Maybe he was overreacting to Chloe’s honest observation, but something about it irritated him. More than Chloe’s usual quips did, of course, of which there had been many directed at him.
“Yeah, sure, whatever,” Chloe replied in her trademark, sarcastically off-hand tone before she continued typing.
Bill propped his elbows up on the table and let his head sink into his hands. Chloe’s comment had sparked in him the incredible loneliness that he felt every time he thought about Karen. She had been ordered to Washington two months ago when this crisis had started, and Bill hadn’t seen her since. He’d talked to her, sure, and on an almost daily basis at that, but nothing could help that sinking feeling he felt when he went home to an empty house every night. Oh, how he wished he could just see her smile again. He needed to see that beautiful smile, hold her in his arms, and kiss her smiling lips, even if it was just for an afternoon. He didn’t know how much longer he could stand being without her.
“God, I miss her,” Bill whispered, his head still in his hands. Chloe looked up at him like he had just grown a second head. Bill looked up and, upon seeing her face, quickly stammered, “Uh, I’m, uh, sorry, was that out loud?” A stupid question, really, as Chloe’s look was the only answer he needed. He cleared his throat.
“Sorry,” he muttered again. Chloe just rolled her eyes and turned her focus back to her laptop. After a few seconds, she closed it up and stuffed it into her bag, which she slung over her shoulder. Without a word, she got up and walked to the door. She opened it and looked like she was about to leave, but almost as an afterthought, she turned back to Bill.
“You know, if you ever wanted to take a day off to fly out to DC, we could handle it here,” she informed him. Bill furrowed his eyebrows in slight confusion; this kind of kindness was very un-characteristic of Chloe. It wasn’t unwelcome, but it was slightly confusing. But then Chloe added, “Even though Hammond would probably eat you alive if you tried to take a day off in the middle of this crisis, we could still handle it here.”
Bill couldn’t help but smile. That was more like Chloe. He did appreciate the offer, but she was right; Hammond would have him fired before he could buy a plane ticket.
“Thanks, Chloe,” he said anyway. “Now go home. I don’t want to see you back here until tomorrow.”
“Right.” She turned and left without another word. Chloe’s abrupt actions and changes of mood never ceased to surprise Bill. The day I figure out what goes through her mind is the day that I need to quit this job and become a psychiatrist, he briefly mused to himself.
After a second, Bill sighed and glanced around the empty room. When he determined that nothing required his immediate attention, he pulled out his cell phone. He had her number on speed dial and she answered after two rings.
“Hayes.”
“Hey, it’s me,” Bill said gently. Karen’s heart skipped a beat upon hearing her husband’s voice. Her tone immediately softened.
“Hey, I was wondering when I was going to hear from you.” She couldn’t help but smiling as she spoke. It was a silly habit, she knew, but when she brought it up once with Bill, he insisted that he could hear the smile in her voice.
“Yeah, I’m so sorry I haven’t called earlier. We’ve been in up to our necks trying to deal with the latest bombings.”
“You don’t have to apologize. I can only imagine what it’s like out there,” Karen replied. “Are you home yet?”
He paused, briefly considering his answer. Karen wouldn’t be happy that he was still at CTU, and that he really had no plans of leaving any time soon. However, he knew that he couldn’t lie convincingly to her.
“No, I’m not,” he said. Before she could argue, he continued, “I need to be here because we’re still wrapping up from everything that’s happened in the past 24 hours.”
“You know you don’t have to be there right now, Bill,” Karen said sternly, seeing right through his excuse. “Now go home and get some rest.”
“Yes ma’am,” he replied mock-seriously. Karen wasn’t amused.
“I’m serious,” she said. “You shouldn’t overwork yourself like you tend to do when I’m gone.”
“I still have a few more things to do here, but I’ll go home after that,” Bill answered somewhat defensively. He didn’t consider himself a work-a-holic, but there was no denying that he usually found any excuse to stay at work when Karen was out of town.
“Promise?”
Karen’s concern for him made Bill miss her even more. Still, he couldn’t help but grin at her almost child-like question.
“Yes, I promise,” he assured her.
“Good.”
“How are you holding up over there?”
“As well as can be expected in the middle of a national crisis.” There was a long pause on Karen’s end. “I miss you so much,” she said quietly.
Bill closed his eyes. Every time she said that, he got an unexplainable guilty feeling that he just couldn’t shake. He had encouraged her to take the job as National Security Advisor when Wayne Palmer had offered it to her, despite her initial reservations. He had thought that she would be happier in the long run if she took the job, but now he could see how wrong he had been. He couldn’t help but feel solely responsible for causing her unhappiness, something that haunted him whenever he let his guard down.
“I miss you too, sweetheart,” he whispered.
“God, I just want this all to end soon so I can come home,” Karen stated exhaustedly.
“I know, and we’re doing everything we can over here to end this soon,” Bill assured her. He was more trying to assure himself than anything, but Karen was glad to hear it too. “And I will personally see to it that we continue to do everything we can,” he added almost jokingly. Karen couldn’t help but smile.
“I know you will,” she said. There was a slight pause before she continued, “Bill, I have to go to a briefing that’s starting in a minute. I’ll call you later tonight.”
Bill knew when he called her that they would be interrupted by some business or another sooner or later. It served as a reminder to him of the incredible distance between them. He just missed having uninterrupted time alone together, even if it was as simple as having dinner together after a long day at work.
“Okay, I’ll talk to you then,” he replied. “I love you, Karen.”
“I love you too.”
“Bye.”
The phone line went dead as she hung up. Bill closed his phone and just sat there tiredly for a moment. Briefly, he considered calling Brad Hammond at Division to see if he could fly out to DC for a day. He quickly dismissed the idea, though. Oddly enough, Chloe’s prediction of what would happen in that situation was probably closer to the truth than it was far from it. No, the only way that he was going to get Karen back any time soon was if this terrorist plot was resolved soon. Bill could only pray that a way out of this crisis presented itself soon.
Chapter 2...