(Untitled)

[theredshirts]

July 10, 2012
9:03amWalking up to his office, Bill takes a seat behind his desk, looking at the phone for a moment as he drops Bauer's file on his desk. The government file had been out of date, of course, and so he'd had analysts run data-mining on him. He'd been both surprised and not surprised when Jack's name had come up as joint owner of a

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[chelleuncurled]

Palmer's dead. Michelle's not sure if her nausea is from the news or a recurrence of morning sickness.

Palmer married them, Tony's dead and Palmer --

After she saw the news, she picked up the phone and it was her Mom who was calling to wish her a happy birthday and awkwardly tell her that she was sorry about the news. She knew that Michelle was a great admirer of his, and wanted to make sure the baby was okay. Until her mom mentioned it, Michelle had forgotten that it was her birthday. Her first pregnant and her first without Tony. Another terrible birthday. After her mom, she called Jack and Chris, or at least she got their voice mail.

He's on his way here, she thought, and tried his cell, and then her cell. No answer. She tried their home again and this time left a message. A few moments later, her dad and step-mom called to wish her a happy birthday too. They didn't talk long, since Michelle's answers were short and she just wanted to get off the phone so that she could try Jack and Chris again.

Almost a half hour later and she's on the phone, still trying to reach Jack and Chris. If they don't call her soon, she'll have to take a trip over to the condo. "Hey -- I just wanted to make sure that -- just call me when you get this." It's the fourth message she's left and with anyone else it would be clingy and possibly obsessive but all the times they've been out of touch have never led to anything good.

Her phone rings the minute she hangs up.

[theredshirts]

He's not expecting her to pick up as quickly as she does; the phone had hardly rung once. "Hello, Michelle? It's Bill Buchanan," he says, a little awkwardly. He hasn't spoken to her since the funeral after all, and this isn't exactly the kind of circumstances he would have chosen to reunite with her.

[chelleuncurled]

"Bill," she meant to call him so many times, but she didn't know what to say. Their relationship was still a question mark in his mind and she didn't think she'd ever be ready to turn it into an ellipse. "It's good to hear your voice," she finally says.

She has the feeling this is about Palmer's death and not her birthday. "Do you need me to come in?"

[theredshirts]

There's a second's hesitation before he realizes she's thinking that they need her at CTU because of her experience, not because of her connection to Jack. "We do. We...have a suspect in the Palmer assassination," he says, slowly. Damn, he should just come out and tell her, but somehow it's harder to do than he would have thought.

[chelleuncurled]

"Is it someone I've worked on in the past?" Palmer never had any shortage of enemies and she still remembers going through the lists of suspects. "I could also pick Jack's brain, see if he remembers anything about them."

It's easy to slip into work mode, her voice sounding stronger as she begins to run down a mental list of possible shooters.

[theredshirts]

Bill leans forward, resting his head on his hand for a moment. He can't tell her about Jack over the phone, but God, he hates lying to her. It was always obvious how much she loved Tony--how much she still does--and he knows that there's no chance for anything between them, but still he cares enough about her to hate lying to her like this.

"We can talk about it when you get here; just...please get here as quickly as you can and still be safe."

[chelleuncurled]

Of course, it would be unwise to have a conversation on an unsecure line. "I'll be there within the hour." Bill sounds a little odd, and she's tempted to ask him if everything's okay, but at the moment their relationship is completely professional. Bill was one of the least damaged people she knew and his strength and faith in her had saved her when she was completely lost.

She hangs up without saying goodbye and calls Jack one last time to tell him that she'd be at CTU for a few hours. Now, she has to get ready and find clothing that fits and isn't something she could wear to bed.

[theredshirts]

Bill hangs up, forcing himself to get back to work and focus on the hunt for Jack and Chris, on thinking about everything else besides the fact that Michelle is coming into CTU. He has to go talk to Kim; a discussion that doesn't go very far. She refused to say anything other than that she wouldn't answer their questions as "you're looking for the wrong person", as though saying it over and over would make it true.

Bill certainly hopes it is, but the evidence is too hard to ignore, particularly when the only real argument against it is that the man's daughter doesn't believe her father could do it. The number of times he's seen families shocked and disbelieving at what their loved ones could do... Despite her estrangement from her father after his return to L.A., she simply refused to believe that his years in exile and his time in China could have changed him; something which, at the moment, seems like an all-too-likely possibility. If she won't accept that, then simply questioning her, isn't going to work. Much as he doesn't want to, he's going to have to summon Doyle back to CTU to do a real interrogation; for now, all he can do is call Doyle and work on finding Jack in other ways.

As soon as he gets the call that Michelle's passed the parking lot security checkpoint, he heads toward the entrance to the building, reaching the doors as she walks in. "Michelle, I'm glad you could come," he says, holding out a hand for her to shake. As much as he'd like to talk to her before breaking the news, there's no time for small talk. Better that they get down to business, anyway. "I'd like to talk with you in my office for a moment."

[chelleuncurled]

Michelle focuses on Bill, trying to ignore all the memories that being in this building again are bringing to the forefront. So much of her life is tied up in CTU. So many firsts. And lasts.

She shakes his hand and wishes she could talk to him as a friend and not the head of CTU.

"That's fine," she's dressed in one of the largest suits she could find in her closet on short notice. Until she tried on one item after another, she hadn't realized how thin she'd been or how much weight she'd let herself lose. "Is there something wrong?" She asks when they reach his office - used to be Tony's, used to be George's - and she tries to concentrate on the present.

[theredshirts]

"Take a seat," he says, gesturing toward the couch. He waits until she sits before doing the same, perching stiffly on the edge of the chair. "I told you we had a suspect in the assassination. Our prime suspect right now is Jack Bauer."

[chelleuncurled]

Michelle stares at him, her hands in her lap and it takes a moment for the words to make sense. She stands abruptly, raising a hand to touch her forehead. "Bill, that's ridiculous. I know Jack, you know Jack, and he is extremely loyal to David Palmer."

Maybe it is all an elaborate joke and someone will yell surprise at any moment. She almost looks for the cake and balloons. "I can't believe you could even entertain such an insane idea."

[theredshirts]

He'd been expecting as much. "We found his fingerprints on the weapon used to shoot Palmer, and a witness saw a man of Jack's description entering the building where the shot was fired. I don't want to believe it either, Michelle, but there's too much evidence to just ignore it."

[chelleuncurled]

"And evidence has been faked before, too," she knows it's a weak argument but she was there when everyone was sure that Cyprus was the real thing. "I can't and won't help you build a case against an innocent man." Because Jack is innocent and she has the bizarre thought that even if he was going to do something like this, he'd never purposely ruin her birthday. Not after the last one.

"Bill, I trust him and if you talked to him I'm sure you'd -- "

[theredshirts]

"Michelle," he says, interrupting, though his tone is gentle. "I know you trust him. But the evidence says that there's a distinct possibility that he did this, and if that's the case...talking isn't going to help."

He sighs, softly, his eyes not leaving hers, though it's hard to watch her like this. "Michelle, we need your help. We sent a field team to bring in Jack as well as Chris Chappelle and when the team got there they were gone. Is there anywhere you know of that they could have gone?"

[chelleuncurled]

"Chris?" Her voice trembles and she looks away. "You think Chris had something to do with this?"

She stays standing only because sitting would take away some of her power. "I haven't been able to get in touch with either of them."

[theredshirts]

"I don't know. We intercepted a phone call from her to Kim a few minutes ago, but we didn't get a chance to trace it, and what we assume was Chris' side of the call was scrambled. It was obvious that Kim wasn't talking to her father directly, and Chris is the most likely person to be with him at the moment." Of course from what Kim had said on her side of the call, it's hard to tell whether Chris was a knowing accomplice or an innocent victim; either option was hard to imagine, both for Chris' sake as well as Jack's. Even with what had happened to both of them--the limited amount of it that he actually knew--it's still hard to imagine.

"From what Kim said in the call, there's no way to tell where they are, or how much Chris knows. We don't have any reason to believe she was involved at this point, other than the fact that they're obviously in a relationship. But if Jack really has turned and she finds that out...it could be dangerous for her. We need to find them as soon as possible."