The Man of Her Dreams/24/Maudrey/PG-13
And so begins my little collection of Maudrey fics :D Sorry for the long delay :D Thank you to Lisa and Sharon for the encouragement; you'll see your ideas in future stories :D
Oh, and sorry for any typos. As you all know by now, I sadly am without MS Word for the time being *sob*
Title: The Man of Her Dreams
Fandom: 24
Pairing: Morris/Audrey
Rating: PG-13
Prompt: Afraid
Table: 2
Disclaimer:
The following fic is a parody, intended not to show how well Morris and Audrey fit together (because, let's face it, they don't), but rather how the pairings of Jack and Audrey/Chloe and Morris are so wrong.
The Man of Her Dreams
She knew he liked her. If the meaningful glances over the top of the computers were anything to go by, she was willing to believe that he was as lonely without her as she was without him. She had tried on several occasions to get close to him, the most recent being Bill's morning briefing in the situation room. He had arrived late, as usual, earning himself a glare from both Bill and Chloe as he took his seat to the right of the Director. "Car troubles," he'd explained, casting his eyes swiftly over the room to make sure that everyone had noticed his late arrival.
Chloe... she had never been able to get along with the scowling, sullen faced lead analyst. She always seemed to know too much, and gave away nothing. Not even, Audrey reflected bitterly, Jack's location when he went into hiding. Or that fact that he was even in hiding. She, Audrey, was meant to have been Jack's girlfriend, yet he led her to believe that he was dead. And then he had the nerve to challenge her when she told him she'd slept with someone else... as though he and Chloe weren't already at it behind her back, as they undoutbedly had been for the entire eighteen months he'd been 'dead.'
The rest of the meeting had passed uneventfully, with Audrey trying and failing to attract his attention. He seemed far too besotted with the woman beside him, which just gave Audrey further reason to hate her. It wasn't bad enough that she'd tried stealing Jack, now she was insisting on clinging onto Morris like the desperate nobody that she was, although it was obvious to everyone around them that they didn't belong together. Audrey guessed she just didn't want to be lonely; no one else would have her, and a woman had needs.
She almost gave up, and Audrey Heller was not a woman who gave up easily. She liked to think of herself as strong willed; she would get what she wanted at whatever cost, even if it meant lying and cheating and hurting other people on the way. She didn't really look upon it as lying. Just... being economical with the truth. What Jack didn't know couldn't hurt him. He had his precious Chloe; not that Audrey seriously thought that he looked at the other woman with anything even remotely resembling interest. He probably pitied her. That's all it had been; pity sex. Oh, she hadn't challenged him about it. She didn't need to, because it didn't matter. He came back to her and that was the important thing. All she was going to do was have a little fun, play him at his own game.
But it had turned into more than that. The feelings she had for this other man were strong, stronger than she thought she could ever feel.
As they had all filed out of the situation room, Chloe practically running to keep up with Jack, Audrey held back, biding her time. She waited until the room was empty, before sashaying across to him and perching on the table. She felt like a teenager again. Jack had never made her feel like that.
"I hope your car's alright," she said, her voice sincere but with suggestive undertones. He looked up at her, frowning. "What do you want?"
That was not what he was meant to have said; it wasn't in the script. But she remained cool, and opened her mouth to respond when they were rudely interrupted. "Morris, we need you back out on the floor," was all Chloe said. Well, it was more like ordered. Audrey didn't know how he put up with it. She'd thought him a stronger man. Apparently she was wrong, for she watched with disdain as he eased himself out of the chair and ambled towards the door.
Now, they were back at their stations, and she was growing impatient. Jack had disappeared, as had Chloe. She didn't need to be a genius to work out what they were doing, and she suspected that Bill Buchanan knew more than he let on. Across the floor, Morris wasn't overly bothered by his ex wife's vanishing act. He'd looked up briefly but, finding her seat beside him empty, had simply returned his attention to his screen. Sighing, Audrey continued on with her work, ever plotting and scheming for a way to approach him that wouldn't make her look sad and desperate. Not that she was, of course.
...
He'd seen her looking. Hell, he'd even been looking at her, otherwise how else would he have known? It was wrong. Purely and simply wrong. But was it? He and Chloe weren't in love any more; looking at his ex-wife as she returned to the comm. station he knew the game had been over a while now. Jack Bauer was hardly helping matters. It had been clear to Morris the first day he'd come back, during the whole Logan mess, that Chloe had more than a silly high school crush on the other man. No, theirs was a bond that no-one else shared, no-one else understood, and no-one else got a say in. He suspected that the highly strung field agent had feelings for Chloe, too, they were both too stubborn and too proud and too scared to admit them.
"Where've you been?" he asked casually, waiting while she logged back into her station and began filtering through the hourlies. Something he should have done himself, now he thought about it, but he'd been distracted.
"I told you, I went to reboot the main server. It was playing up." Chloe threw him a withering glance. "And now I'm doing the hourlies, which Mr. Buchanan asked you to do three times already."
"I've been busy, someone's had to cover things here while you were gallivanting."
She didn't respond to that. He hadn't thought she would.
"Listen, love," he murmured, edging closer but keeping his eyes trained on the blonde sitting opposite. The blonde, who, he hastened to remind himself, was involved with none other than Jack Bauer. Although that relationship too was going down the toilet. Had been ever since Jack had returned from China. Or perhaps it had been going that way before then, Morris didn't know. He hadn't been around back then. Chloe stiffened as he neared but he pretended not to notice. "Love, I don't think this is working, do you? I mean, you and me, look at us. Hardly marriage material, are we?"
This time she did stop. Turning slowly in her chair, Morris was surprised to see an amused expression on her face. "And it took you how long to figure this out?"
He couldn't help the relief that washed over him. He risked a glance over at Audrey, only to find her deep in conversation with Jack. Bloody Jack. Hero, saviour, all round pain in the ass Jack Bauer. Morris could only hope she was finishing with him just as he was putting an end to the sham of his and Chloe's relationship.
"Well, you know, sometimes a guy just needs a kick up the ass to see things that are right under his nose," Morris went on, tearing his eyes away from the daughter of the former Secretary of Defence and returning them to his ex-wife.
"So what was your kick up the ass then?" she asked, mildly interested.
He paused. He definitely had not been expecting that question. "Um... let's just say these last few months have given me a chance to think."
"You could have done that before we married," she pointed out, and he had to admit she was right. Or was she? "We were in love back then," he recalled. "At least, I was."
"I was, too," Chloe conceded, and he thought he saw her eyes shimmer with tears. Damn it. The last thing he needed was for her to break down right there in the middle of bloody CTU, with Jack Bauer only metres away. "Hey, love, come on." Morris lowered his voice. "That was a long time ago. Things have changed. Haven't they?"
"Yes. But... why are you doing this now, in the middle of the day, while we're at work?" Chloe scowled. "I guess I shouldn't really expect better from you. We haven't been working for some time, I shouldn't be surprised by anything you do now." She met his eyes but saw that they were focussed on something in the near distance. Frowning, she followed his gaze, her mouth falling open as she saw the object of his attention. "Audrey?" she all but squeaked, conscious to keep her voice down. Morris winced none the less.
"Don't be ridiculous, love. She's with Jack-"
"No, she isn't."
"-what?"
"I said, no, she isn't."
"Oh... why?"
"How should I know?"
"You're friends with Jack, I thought he might have said something."
"Why would Jack tell me about Audrey?"
He shrugged. "I don't know, love, I just-" But she was on her feet and moving away from him. "Whatever, Morris. We're through. We were through a long time ago. Move out whenever."
Her words left him stunned. She hadn't even argued with him. And Audrey wasn't with Jack... it was just too bloody easy. Feeling suddenly confident, he took a deep breath and stood up, intending to march over to the other side of the floor, scoop Audrey into his arms and plant a kiss on those beautiful lips of hers...
"Going somewhere, Morris?"
In his haste, he'd not seen Jack walking straight towards him. He debated over shoving past him but previous experience told him that probably wasn't a good idea. "I need to speak with Audrey," he said, meeting the other man's eyes.
A smile spread slowly across Jack's face, one that didn't entirely reach his eyes. To Morris's bewilderment, he stepped aside. "Be my guest. She's all yours."
Hardly daring to believe his luck, Morris trotted away before Jack could change his mind. He'd seen Jack Bauer in a bad mood before, and it wasn't pretty.
...
"Audrey, can I speak to you a second please?"
His British accent cut through her thoughts, causing her to jump. She felt her heart start to pound and she licked her lips nervously. "Sure, Morris. What is it?"
"Not here, out the back."
"Okay," she breathed, standing and smoothing down her skirt. Audrey took a moment to adjust her hair before following Morris towards the rear corridor. She didn't fail to notice the curious stares she received but held her head high, determined that nothing and no-one was going to stand between her and the man of her dreams.
He led her towards the break room, holding the door open in what she felt was a very chivalrous and gentlemanly manner. "Thank you," she giggled, stepping inside and perching on one of the chairs furnishing the infrequently used room. "Morris, what's this about?" she enquired gently, watching while he hovered uneasily in the doorway.
"I'm told you're not with Jack anymore."
She loved a man who got right to the point. "No," she replied, her heart rate quickening further.
"I'm not with Chloe, either."
"Oh, I'm sorry-"
"Don't be." He waved his hand. "It needed to come to an end, so I ended it. I realised that there was someone else for me."
"Oh?" The word was scarcely a whisper. "Don't worry, I didn't cheat on her. I'm not like that. I might be plenty of things, but a cheater I am not. I promise you that, Audrey. It's important that you know that." He walked towards her and took her hand, pulling her to her feet. "You know who that other woman was? It was you, Audrey. But..." Morris trailed off, stared down at his feet. "I was too afraid, afraid of Jack, I guess you could say."
"Oh, Morris." She reached out one carefully manicured hand and pressed it against his chest. "You don't have to be afraid of him now."
"I don't? You mean, he isn't going to kick the crap out of me for seducing you? You are his ex-girlfriend, after all."
Audrey laughed. "Why are we talking about Jack? Isn't it about time you kissed me?"
So he did. Audrey Heller always got her own way, and he wasn't about to become the exception to that rule.