A New Day…aka Here we go again…
Two years after season six and Tony is probably dead (sorry), but CTU is still there and trouble’s a brewing. As always time has run out for Jack and Chloe and they need to find an unorthodox solution.
Written as a birthday present for sej_1986. (Sorry it's a tad late.) Hope you like it and please enjoy.
Here we go again…
Scanning though it the meeting agendas and the summaries for the next day his heart stopped as he read the name. He thought that the old feelings were over, but yet there was that familiar pang. He closed his eyes and tried to contain the emotions. He pushed back from his desk. Running his hand across his face he tried to imagine what the hell they were thinking. Jack thought that they had learned their lesson with the Chinese but this was bordering insanity. He never should have made the deal and now he was stuck in here for another 2 years. He wondered if it was truly worth it. He watched their backs, he took the fall. For the good of the country he quietly took the consequences and spent the stint in jail. Pretending forgiveness they brought him back and promised it would be different. As he looked around all he could see was that nothing had changed.
Gazing across the bullpen his eyes fell to Chloe. With her exquisite finesse she and the new director reviewed the dailies. He lightly chuckled as he realized she was just as unhappy as he was with what she saw. He watched as she bit her lip trying to contain her tongue. Jack could see how over the years she had changed. It wasn’t only her hair, but her whole persona. She was confident and strong. Her scowl softened by age. She had always believed in a greater good. Most of all she held a trust that no one had ever touched. He felt how far they had come and now she was the only one that was left. So many friends had died or had run from this place. He often wondered why she had stayed. He wasn’t sure if he would ever really know, but he was more than glad she was here.
Jack came to a decision. The insanity had to stop. This time the ‘powers that be’ needed to listen to him. He promised himself that this day will be different. Quickly he transferred the files to his PDA and made his way down the stairs.
“Walk with me.”
The sharp tone in his voice told her it was serious. The silence was cut only by the click of her heels. She had a pretty good idea where this walk would go.
“Have you read this?” Jack began.
Chloe didn’t even have a chance to respond when Jack continued on with his almost frantic rant.
“What the hell are they thinking? This will never work. We have to put an end to it. We need to find out who is behind all of this.”
“Chloe,” he realized, “there must be another mole.”
xoxoxo
“Jack, I know who it is and you are not going to like it.”
She turned the screen and the devil stared back at him.
“Impossible! He is dead.” Jack’s voice cracked and he demanded to know. “Chloe are you absolutely sure about this?”
“Yes Jack. I ran the threads. There is no doubt. Here is the surveillance from yesterday morning when he inputted the list.”
With horror Jack viewed all the documents before him. The spiral went beyond Division and well past District. The bottom line went to the very top. It showed a triangle of lies. The image of he mastermind, the creator of the nightmare that had become Jack’s life stared at his soul. The words and pictures confirmed what his heart believed. A script of disaster faced him. His friend, his confidant, a partner was the man behind the curtain. He signed off on the death of his wife. He placed the obstacles that Jack fought. When Jack did not agree to let it be the heavy darkness sent him to China. His father worked for him. Marwan sat at his dinner table. He protected the Drazens and empowered his brother. Every action was his. Every lie was his word. Every man had a price and they were all on his payroll.
“My god Chloe, do you know what this means?”
Chloe had known Jack’s plight long enough to know just what this was. When good men faced this foe they usually end up dead or on a slow boat to China. From the look in her eye Jack could see she knew they were in serous trouble…again.
“I’ll call Bill.” Chloe sighed.
xoxoxo
Jack’s hand twitched as he watched. Within the insanity his sight was clear. The path was laid.
Bill shook his head in disbelief.
“Jack, does the President know about this?”
“He sanctioned it.” The low growl of his voice filled the room.
“We don’t have much time Jack. How do you want to handle this?”
“Chloe and I have found a way to stall the meeting. It’s dangerous Bill. I need to know you have our backs.”
“Yes, of course Jack. What do you need me to do?”
“We need to take away what he values most…control.”
xoxoxo
Jack entered the room silently. The glow from the monitor gave an eerie stillness in the heated heart. He beheld his old friend and wanted nothing more than to destroy the man who brought so much pain and loss to those he loved. His palm pressed against the steel as ears heard a familiar click.
“Jack, you can come out of the shadows, I know you’re there.”
Hearing his voice left Jack with nothing more than a greater resolve. He was going to stop it now. Tonight he would take his justice. The world of this man’s creation would change. No longer his pawn, Jack will look the fates in the eye and control his own destiny.
“I thought you were dead.”
“Well, many men thought you were dead too Jack, but I, as always, knew better.”
Stepping out of the shadows Jack let him see the silent rage he had made. The barrel he had to hold and the end that was never seen.
“I trusted you.”
“I paid you to do a job”
“This is my life damn it…I want it back.”
A wicked laugh flowed from the demon as he faced his creation.
“Jack you are fully aware that you are nothing without me. I created you. I created your life and you will live it the way I demand.”
“That may have been true once…never, ever again.”
Jack moved in on his prey. He found the humanity in himself and he knew it could never be taken away.
“I can not be bought. My friends can no longer be bought. I have stopped your insane plan. ”
Jack walked to the desk and faced his nemesis. The hero’s eyes never wavered. With knowing answer he placed the affidavits, recordings, and contracts before the falling man.
“Read this and tell me I am wrong”
Contempt mixed with his breath as the documents were examined. An air of smug surrounded.
“Well, well, it looks like you have some interesting fiction here. It will never work Jack. If I told you once I‘ve told you-“
“No! You listen! You do not have a choice. This is it. Take the deal or your production ends. I walk…we all walk and you will have nothing.”
The man flinched and Jack knew it was over. The insanity found an end.
“I love Chloe and I will have Chloe. Oh, incase you didn’t imagine it; she is going to have my baby. So you had better deal with that too.”
The man took a deep breath then nodded. Knowing he had lost, Howard picked up the pen and scratched out Audrey’s name. With a slight shake of his head he filled the space with the name of Jack’s true love.
Written as a birthday present for sej_1986. (Sorry it's a tad late.) Hope you like it and please enjoy.
Here we go again…
Scanning though it the meeting agendas and the summaries for the next day his heart stopped as he read the name. He thought that the old feelings were over, but yet there was that familiar pang. He closed his eyes and tried to contain the emotions. He pushed back from his desk. Running his hand across his face he tried to imagine what the hell they were thinking. Jack thought that they had learned their lesson with the Chinese but this was bordering insanity. He never should have made the deal and now he was stuck in here for another 2 years. He wondered if it was truly worth it. He watched their backs, he took the fall. For the good of the country he quietly took the consequences and spent the stint in jail. Pretending forgiveness they brought him back and promised it would be different. As he looked around all he could see was that nothing had changed.
Gazing across the bullpen his eyes fell to Chloe. With her exquisite finesse she and the new director reviewed the dailies. He lightly chuckled as he realized she was just as unhappy as he was with what she saw. He watched as she bit her lip trying to contain her tongue. Jack could see how over the years she had changed. It wasn’t only her hair, but her whole persona. She was confident and strong. Her scowl softened by age. She had always believed in a greater good. Most of all she held a trust that no one had ever touched. He felt how far they had come and now she was the only one that was left. So many friends had died or had run from this place. He often wondered why she had stayed. He wasn’t sure if he would ever really know, but he was more than glad she was here.
Jack came to a decision. The insanity had to stop. This time the ‘powers that be’ needed to listen to him. He promised himself that this day will be different. Quickly he transferred the files to his PDA and made his way down the stairs.
“Walk with me.”
The sharp tone in his voice told her it was serious. The silence was cut only by the click of her heels. She had a pretty good idea where this walk would go.
“Have you read this?” Jack began.
Chloe didn’t even have a chance to respond when Jack continued on with his almost frantic rant.
“What the hell are they thinking? This will never work. We have to put an end to it. We need to find out who is behind all of this.”
“Chloe,” he realized, “there must be another mole.”
xoxoxo
“Jack, I know who it is and you are not going to like it.”
She turned the screen and the devil stared back at him.
“Impossible! He is dead.” Jack’s voice cracked and he demanded to know. “Chloe are you absolutely sure about this?”
“Yes Jack. I ran the threads. There is no doubt. Here is the surveillance from yesterday morning when he inputted the list.”
With horror Jack viewed all the documents before him. The spiral went beyond Division and well past District. The bottom line went to the very top. It showed a triangle of lies. The image of he mastermind, the creator of the nightmare that had become Jack’s life stared at his soul. The words and pictures confirmed what his heart believed. A script of disaster faced him. His friend, his confidant, a partner was the man behind the curtain. He signed off on the death of his wife. He placed the obstacles that Jack fought. When Jack did not agree to let it be the heavy darkness sent him to China. His father worked for him. Marwan sat at his dinner table. He protected the Drazens and empowered his brother. Every action was his. Every lie was his word. Every man had a price and they were all on his payroll.
“My god Chloe, do you know what this means?”
Chloe had known Jack’s plight long enough to know just what this was. When good men faced this foe they usually end up dead or on a slow boat to China. From the look in her eye Jack could see she knew they were in serous trouble…again.
“I’ll call Bill.” Chloe sighed.
xoxoxo
Jack’s hand twitched as he watched. Within the insanity his sight was clear. The path was laid.
Bill shook his head in disbelief.
“Jack, does the President know about this?”
“He sanctioned it.” The low growl of his voice filled the room.
“We don’t have much time Jack. How do you want to handle this?”
“Chloe and I have found a way to stall the meeting. It’s dangerous Bill. I need to know you have our backs.”
“Yes, of course Jack. What do you need me to do?”
“We need to take away what he values most…control.”
xoxoxo
Jack entered the room silently. The glow from the monitor gave an eerie stillness in the heated heart. He beheld his old friend and wanted nothing more than to destroy the man who brought so much pain and loss to those he loved. His palm pressed against the steel as ears heard a familiar click.
“Jack, you can come out of the shadows, I know you’re there.”
Hearing his voice left Jack with nothing more than a greater resolve. He was going to stop it now. Tonight he would take his justice. The world of this man’s creation would change. No longer his pawn, Jack will look the fates in the eye and control his own destiny.
“I thought you were dead.”
“Well, many men thought you were dead too Jack, but I, as always, knew better.”
Stepping out of the shadows Jack let him see the silent rage he had made. The barrel he had to hold and the end that was never seen.
“I trusted you.”
“I paid you to do a job”
“This is my life damn it…I want it back.”
A wicked laugh flowed from the demon as he faced his creation.
“Jack you are fully aware that you are nothing without me. I created you. I created your life and you will live it the way I demand.”
“That may have been true once…never, ever again.”
Jack moved in on his prey. He found the humanity in himself and he knew it could never be taken away.
“I can not be bought. My friends can no longer be bought. I have stopped your insane plan. ”
Jack walked to the desk and faced his nemesis. The hero’s eyes never wavered. With knowing answer he placed the affidavits, recordings, and contracts before the falling man.
“Read this and tell me I am wrong”
Contempt mixed with his breath as the documents were examined. An air of smug surrounded.
“Well, well, it looks like you have some interesting fiction here. It will never work Jack. If I told you once I‘ve told you-“
“No! You listen! You do not have a choice. This is it. Take the deal or your production ends. I walk…we all walk and you will have nothing.”
The man flinched and Jack knew it was over. The insanity found an end.
“I love Chloe and I will have Chloe. Oh, incase you didn’t imagine it; she is going to have my baby. So you had better deal with that too.”
The man took a deep breath then nodded. Knowing he had lost, Howard picked up the pen and scratched out Audrey’s name. With a slight shake of his head he filled the space with the name of Jack’s true love.