What about us.
by Aria
Rating: Pg-13 for very soft sexual content.
Disclaimer: I wish I owned them, but I don't, in particular I'd like Nina's hair do, but maybe my hairdresser can organise that for me.
Spoilers: Up to 5 am, I'm watching in the UK, give me a break.
Synopsis: I'm appalled by the lack of 24 fanfic out on the Internet, so I thought I'd write some myself. There's also a lack of speculation about what went on before 24, so...here it is.
-*-*-
Nina reached a sleepy finger to poke at the elevating nuisance around her nose. For a few seconds in hazy morning sleep she suspected a fly, or an errant strand of hair, but as her awareness grew and her body awoke, she remembered the night before, and a smile formed on her face.
"Whaddar you smiling at?" asked a low, grumbling baritone. Nina laughed, once, and blinked twice to accustom her eyes to the morning light. They hadn't shut the curtains last night, and now the LA sun had taken the opportunity to blare through the window.
Jack rubbed the peacock feather over her cheek once more, and reached over to place it on the bedside table, tucking it carefully between the clock radio and the lamp. Nina angled her head back and over so she could watch his hand, lingering when he was done to read the display on the clock.
Her vision was distracted when he moved over her and kissed her forehead, and as soon as she turned back to him, he kissed the tip of her nose. "Good morning." he whispered happily to her, leaning forward to whisper it into her ear.
Nina swallowed. He always did this to her, she wanted to shiver, but she wasn't cold, it was just him, he had this effect on her. He always had. Jack's breath fluttered across her cheek and she slowly shut her eyes, waiting for him as he lowered his mouth to hers, and kissed her passionately, sliding his tongue slowly into her mouth to duel with hers and softly caress the inside of her mouth just behind her lips, making her moan and open her mouth further to him.
Jack raised fingers to caress her cheeks, and closed her mouth with his before pulling himself away, both of them opening their eyes slowly, as though waking from sleep. Jack pushed his nose into the crook between her neck and her shoulder, and they lay there comfortably breathing softly.
"Don't start something you can't finish, Jack," she warned once the waves of arousal had ebbed a little. "Don't..."
"I can finish it," he mumbled pulling up from his corner, to grasp her lower lip. He moved to kiss her, but pulled back suddenly, just as she'd moved towards him, and smirked at her. "And so can you," he mumbled.
Jack reached his hands under the bed covers and down to her thighs, cupping just beneath her buttocks to pull them up either side of him, caressing, too close for platonics, and all the time smirking at her. She groaned, and arched her back in an effort to meet him, but he moved slightly almost imperceptibly to keep away. "We've got the time." he said in a measured tone.
Nina laughed again, "Christ, Jack." she whispered, and gripped his neck with both hands, pulling him into a kiss.
-*-*-
"So how are things going at work?" asked Kim, gripping a pair of Levi 501's off the shelf. She shook out the assistant's careful folding and held them in front of herself. Judging the lines of the jeans tried to work out if they'd make her hips look big.
"They're fine." he replied, certain that his teenage daughter didn't care.
"People aren't still giving you a hard time about those guys that were taking bribes?" she asked, wandering over to the mirror holding the jeans in front of her like an invisible shield.
"People will always be giving me a hard time at work, honey, it's all part of being the boss." he said smiling at her.
Kim's expression didn't change. She'd dropped her purse at her feet, and was now smoothing the jeans around her thighs. "How's school?" he asked her.
She snapped her head around and smiled, "It's Saturday, can we not get me depressed?" she grumbled.
Jack nodded and leant back on the counter disturbing the lines of countless shirts. "So, um..." she paused and looked at her father in the mirror. "Are you seeing anybody?" she asked, trying to sound as casual as she could.
"Yeah." he too tried to remain nonchalant for this part of the exchange, "it's a woman from work." Kim nodded and looked down at the floor. Jack could have sworn he saw tears brimming and felt the need to say something. "You'd probably like her if you met her."
Jack took a step towards his daughter when she snapped her face up, tearless, and turned back towards him, "I like these." she said, offering a gentle smile, "I'm gonna try them on."
"Okay, honey." he agreed, and watched her walk down to the changing area.
"Watch my bag." she called after her, and he scooped the small black leather handbag off the floor. He had no doubt his daughter's door keys, phone, and purse were in the bag, but also no doubt he'd end up paying for her jeans. And whatever else she bought that day.
-*-*-
Jack glanced at the LCD display just above the clock radio, he was late, already, he hadn't even dropped Kim off at home, let alone gotten changed, or made any progress to the restaurant. He knew he'd disappointed Nina, he also knew she wouldn't say a word to him about it.
Beside him, Kim was launching into the final portion of their day. The part where she talked about all the stuff mom had done that she didn't agree with. She routinely bombarded him with it at the end of their outings in an effort to make him take her away with him, make him come back? He wasn't sure if she even realised she did it. But as he turned onto 10th street, she said the one phrase that had an effect on him.
"Dad, I miss you." she turned her head towards the car window and watched dark pass her by.
Jack glanced over at her, twice, and slowed the car until he reached the driveway to her mother's house. The porch light was on, as was the lounge light, and the upstairs hallway. He slammed the car into park before it had completely stopped, and the engine lurched and stalled.
"And mom won't let me get a drivers license." Kim said jokily to her father, sniffing slightly and wiping moistness from under her eyes.
Jack pulled on the handbrake, and smiled at her, he caught her arm as she pushed the door open. "Kim, regardless of what's going on, we both love you."
"Yeah, right." she mumbled, and took her hand from him to wipe the tears still gathering on her cheeks.
"Even though you're angry at your mom right now, she loves you." he told her.
Kim reached into the backseat and took out an armful of paper shopping bags from the back of the car. She was too upset to talk, and folded her arms in front of herself. "Why...why do I have to stay with..." she tripped over her words, and coughed in an attempt to cover her embarrassment. Jack put a hand on her wrist. "Why do I have to stay with her, when she betrayed us?"
"Honey, she didn't..."
He was cut off, sad Kim had been replaced by angry out-of-control Kim. "She cheated on you dad, she betrayed you, betrayed our family. And if you're going to let that bitch..."
"Kim!" he yelled, immediately softening when he saw the dramatic change on his daughter's face. "I know you're angry right now, but please don't use that word, or anything similar when describing your mother." Kim looked down at her arms.
Jack smiled, and gently rubbed her forearm. "Besides how else would you get these guilt shopping trips." he said and pointed a finger at the bags.
Kim pawed at her face again and pushed a little on the door. "Next time I take you out, wear some of that stuff, I want to see what I paid for." he watched as she brightened up a little. "I've got to go, I promised I'd meet someone..."
"The woman you're seeing."
"Yeah." she got out of the car.
"Good night, honey." he called out to her as she pushed the door shut. Jack waited until she'd gotten her keys out of her purse before he put the car in reverse, and pulled out of the drive.
-*-*-
He'd taken twenty-five minutes to get home, four, five-at-a-stretch minutes to shower, and fifteen minutes to dry and dress. He'd gotten straight into the car, and driven to the restaurant, which was nearly another half hour's drive. Now he was tossing the keys to the attendant, and racing through the front doors of the restaurant.
So much for drinks at nine, dinner at nine thirty. He walked up to the host's table, where a woman greeted him and asked him his name. "Bauer." he said, scanning the room, the woman read down the list, whilst he checked the tables for Nina, there she was, slightly off to the edge of the room, drinking a glass of red wine.
"There's no need, I've spotted my party." He pointed towards Nina, and skipped through the tables towards her.
She'd just summoned a waiter when he got there. "Can I have another glass of the cabernet?" she asked him.
"And I'd like a scotch." he said, announcing his presence. The waiter nodded their requests and walked towards the bar.
"Hi." Jack said, trying to remain as even toned as he could. He'd seen Nina angry, and he didn't like it.
"Hi." she replied, as he lowered himself into his seat.
"You haven't ordered yet?" it was meant as a question, but in his attempts at evenness it came out as more of a statement.
"No." she answered.
Jack's need to apologise to her reared up, "How late am I?" he asked.
She reached her wrist above the table, and checked her watch. "Thirty-Nine minutes." she said to him. Still even, still empty tone.
"For dinner." he said, she nodded, pursing her lips.
"So, how many guys hit on you whilst you were in the bar?" he asked her, in an attempt to lighten the mood.
She laughed. "Wouldn't you like to know?" she joked back.
"Well if you won't tell me, Ms Myers, I am a trained investigative agent, I'm sure that's information I'm able to obtain." He reached for her hand across the table, and they met over her empty wine glass. She laughed again. "Sorry for making you wait so long."
She smiled, a little more regretfully this time, and opened her mouth to speak again when the waiter returned and set down there glasses. He had to interrupt their hands to retrieve her glass. "How many of those have I got to catch up with?" he asked her, tapping the edge of her empty glass before the waiter took it away.
She scratched her forehead. "Four." she answered.
He nodded, and gulped down his scotch as a shot, placing it on the waiter's tray. "Bring me another one of those, a double." He told him, and turned back to Nina. She laughed again, and tapped her index finger into her wine.
"So how did today go with Kim?" she asked him, bringing the damp finger to her mouth to suck the wine off of it.
"Good, I've spent loads of money on her, made her cry and I'm slowly making her fat."
"Well you're accomplishing two out of three of those tonight with me."
"Really?"
Their hands met again.
"Yeah, you're paying for dinner tonight."
"Because I was late."
"Yeah."
"Because I was late - am I making you cry...."
"What?"
"I was late dropping Kim off, it wasn't like I..."
"You didn't make me cry, Bauer."
"So I'm making you fat, too?"
"I am going to be eating tonight."
"I will have the Caesar salad, and my date will have the lard with the blue cheese dressing, and one of those heart restarting machines on the side."
"What did you do to Kim?" she asked, swapping hands with him so she could pick up her wine. "To make her cry?" she prompted.
"Let her talk about her mom, me, the whole..."
"Yeah." She put down the wine again, and the waiter brought his scotch.
They waited in silence for their waiter to leave. "We should think about ordering." he suggested.
Nina passed him the menu, he didn't have a copy as he'd ran past the hostess. "What were you going to say before?" he asked her, as casually as possible.
"When?" she asked, clearing her throat.
"When I said sorry for keeping you waiting..." he prompted her this time.
She took a long sip of her wine, evading, a Nina tactic. She knew whenever, whenever he was lying, and he could only tell she was evading when she was drunk.
He took his attention off the menu. "Nina, what were you going to say?" he asked again.
"I've been waiting for a few years already." she muttered, and took another long sip, pulling her other hand from his grip. He held it tightly. She wasn't going anywhere, not for the moment anyway.
-*-*-
"Toby, what are the predictions like?" he asked the resentful looking young man in the far corner of his office.
"Getting in isn't going to be the hard part, although it'll be hard. They're estimating nearly an hour for entry and then once they're on the inside another three hours." Toby recited, almost like an encyclopaedia. He was glaring at Nina, making it incredibly obvious that he knew. Jack suspected Toby was giving signals loud enough for everyone to hear.
Either way, he had a job to do. He glanced over at the white board that had been set up off to the side. A satellite photo of Robert T'Nelli's stronghold had been stuck onto it, and around it, the planned agent movements had been drawn. The plan appeared sound, all the angles Jack had asked about, which were usually those not covered, had been organised, so he nodded, "Okay," he said, sitting up in his chair. "It's a go, I'll approve this mission plan." he clarified, and another agent leant forward with the official tactical plan, all binded, typed up, ready to be presented to the judge when they tried this scum.
Jack signed his name next to his title, and slid it across the desk to Nina who'd moved towards him in the last few seconds. He handed her his black fountain pen, and she signed the plan in her slot just above his. He pulled his eyes from her hands to glance over at Toby, who seemed to be giving evil glares to his pen, and then watched as Nina handed it to the young woman who'd given it to him.
"Looks like you've got a go, people, good work." he said, and stood up to indicate to his subordinates he wanted them to leave.
Nina stood and watched everybody clear, slowly following the last person, staggering her exit just long enough so, she could turn in the doorway to talk to him without anyone over hearing. "You busy tonight?" she asked him, tapping the doorframe.
"No." he replied, "You want to do something?" Jack was beginning to wonder if one time they'd run into one of their colleagues, whilst out together, as far as all were concerned, he was still with Teri. He hadn't spoken to a solicitor or taken off his wedding band.
"I made reservations at Les Artistes." she replied.
"That's a bit presumptuous." he admonished.
She merely raised her eyebrows in response.
"What time?"
"Nine O'clock table, you want to meet in the bar beforehand?" she asked, taking a step back into his office.
"Half hour before?" he suggested and she nodded. "I'll try not to be late." he said, half as an apology for dinner last week.
"If you are you're paying, Mister Bauer, I don't like being stood up." she pressed her palm against his tie for only a second. They were standing in an area of his office that was visible from below.
He smiled as she walked away, remembering a night at that restaurant with Teri. "Nina." he called as she rounded the door.
"Yep?"
"Wear sensible shoes." he ordered, "We're going to be dancing."
Nina smiled and walked down the steps towards her own work area.
-*-*-
Jack undid his tie and pulled it out of his shirt. He glanced at the time on the answering machine before he hit the play back button. It was nearly seven thirty. Plenty of time to have a shower, get dressed and make it to the restaurant. He considered getting there early and waiting for her with a glass of her favourite wine.
"Hey, Jack are you there..." it was Teri's voice, "It's Teri, I...." A long pause. "Look, I'll call later on tonight." she said and hung up. The answer-phone recalled the time and today's date. She was his only message.
Jack ran his hand across his chin, and then picked up the phone and hit speed dial 2, his old home number before he could change his mind.
Kimberley picked up the phone, "Hello?"
"Hey, honey it's Dad, uh, your mom called me and left a message, can you get her?"
"Umm, okay..." she replied, and pulled her head back from the receiver, but obviously didn't cover it, as the next thing he heard was "Mooooommmmm!"
A few seconds later his wife's voice appeared on the phone. "Jack?" she asked, sounding confused.
"Yeah, it's me." he replied.
"I, uh, was hoping we could, just..." Teri tripped and stumbled over her words until eventually she'd asked him to come over and talk. Jack agreed and rushed to get ready for dinner, hoping he'd be able to stop and talk to Teri before meeting Nina at the restaurant.
-*-*-
Nina spotted the hostess making her way across the room out of the corner of her eye, but didn't pay much attention to her, she was periodically scanning the room for Jack, who was now nearly ten minutes overdue from the time they'd agreed to meet in the bar.
The hostess tapped her on the shoulder and she turned to look at her. "Excuse me, Ms Myers?" she inquired, and Nina turned, "Yes?" she answered.
"I have a message for you from a 'Jack Bauer' " she said his name like he was a model of a toy or a car.
Nina placed her olives back into her cocktail. "Yes?" she encouraged the slightly younger blonde woman.
"He says he's going to be late, he said to wait for him at the table." She read the message off of a scrap of paper bearing the restaurant's logo on it.
"Okay, thank you." Nina said quickly, dismissing the woman and turning her back to her to finish off her drink.
The guy at the bar next to her turned around and watched her for a few seconds before he spoke. Nina tried to avoid eye contact, twirling the cocktail stick with its olives around in the martini glass. "So your date's late too?" he asked conversationally.
"Yes." she replied.
"I'm on a blind date." he informed her, "My sister set me up, she claims it's one of her more attractive friends." He laughed at his own joke, and focused all his attention on Nina when she didn't respond.
"When you walked in here, I believed her for a second." he said. Nina smiled to her drink. "I'm Robert," he greeted, and held out his hand. Nina finally turned and shook his hand. "Robert Borne, and you are?"
She sighed, for a fleeting moment she considered talking to him would make Jack regretful when he turned up late, and she decided to answer. "Nina Myers."
"Can I get you a drink whilst we wait?" he asked her.
Nina reached over and collected her drink off of the bar, she tapped the side of the glass with her index finger. "I've already got one, thanks." Nina took a sip of it to prove her point, deliberately only taking a small sip so as not to drain her drink and give him further cause.
Robert took the opportunity to check out her clothing, as though he hadn't already. She reached a hand behind her back and pulled her dress down from the top at the back, underneath her cardigan, which would raise it at the front without being too obvious. The dress was a deep dark blue, strappy made of a heavy material that Nina wouldn't have been able to name in a million years. It was basic, no sparkly bits, sequins, flowers, any of that crap, just a low cut front with tiny black straps, and it cut off a few inches above her normal work skirt length. She'd covered up her shoulders to the world in the bar, and the cold March air with a black cardigan, made of soft, but thin and certainly not fluffy wool, and she was glad she had at this moment. Even so, Nina felt the outfit to be excessively girlie.
"What time were you supposed to meet?" he asked her, when he'd finished giving her the once over for the second time.
"Our table's reserved for nine." she answered.
"At least he's giving you fair warning." he replied.
"I suppose." Nina answered cautiously, "What time were you supposed to meet?" she asked.
"Our table's nine-fifteen." He answered.
"And you were due to meet in the bar at...." she let her voice trail off, hoping he'd fill in the blank.
"Oh we're meeting at nine." he answered her.
"It's not even nine yet, and you've written her off already." Nina shook her head and turned her head back to the bar, downing the rest of her martini. She wasn't going to let him buy her another, but she needed to drink it.
"You've written your date off too." he said to her, adopting a slightly less carefree tone.
"What?" she turned back to him and scowled, "no I haven't."
"Sure you have, it hasn't even begun, and you're already talking to other guys."
"You started talking to me." she retaliated, instantly realising what an idiot she must have sounded like.
"You didn't have to keep talking back though did you." He leaned in and said to her ear. Nina turned back to her drink and taped it. A nearby bartender came over. "Bombay Sapphire Martini," she ordered, "Dry." He nodded and began to mix her drink.
"At least I've met my date." she rebutted, "at least I know what I think of him, and we don't have a chance." Her tone became morose, and in her peripheral vision she saw Robert, the surname was either not memorable or necessary at this point, put his drink down on a coaster near her, and hunch over the bar so he was level with her.
"Why don't you have a chance?" he asked quietly. The bartender brought over her drink and, as Nina reached for her purse, Robert told the bartender to put it on the bill under his name. She still didn't pay attention to the surname.
She didn't answer, just thanked him for the drink and sipped it. "You an actress?" she shook her head. "Is he married?" Nina took another sip.
He straightened a little. "So you're the other woman?"
"Not exactly, I'm the fling. The one in the middle. Separated. When they get back together I'll be a cute story to tell the kids." Nina closed her eyes and rested her forehead on the tips of her fingers. Now she felt like an idiot, and she wasn't even drunk yet. "Kid." she corrected herself, and took another, longer sip of the martini.
The blonde woman who'd given her the message earlier appeared once again behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. Nina swiveled the chair round to look at her this time. "Excuse me, Ms Myers, your table is ready early if you would like to wait for your companion in there."
Nina looked over at Robert. He was smiling. He seemed like an okay guy. "No, I think I'll wait in here. Can you call me again when my companion arrives?" she asked.
The woman nodded, but made a slightly annoyed voice, "We'll hold your table until your companion gets here." she said, waited for Nina to thank her, and then left.
"Should I presume that my company isn't as aesthetically displeasing as you've led me to believe?" he enquired.
"I wouldn't go that far." she smiled, and turned her chair to face him, the guy behind him moved and he slid onto his bar stool.
Robert took a sip of his own, largely forgotten drink, and leaned towards her, "So, seeing as we both have dates, and nothing rides on what I say, would you like to hear the worst chat up line in the world?"
Nina laughed, "Shoot."
"Okay," he coughed a little to set it up. "Do you know what the difference is between a sandwich and a blow job?"
Nina raised her eyebrows, and brought her drink to her lips. She glanced up at Robert, "Oh, you want me to answer?" he nodded. "No."
"In that case.....would you like to have lunch with me sometime?"
They both laughed, and Nina took her sip. "That's a good one...I've certainly never heard it."
"Good." he replied.
"Except it'll get a laugh from your girl, so it'll get you in the door."
"Think I should try it on my blind date?"
"If you like her."
"And you're sure that you're not her?"
"Yep."
"Damn."
-*-*-
Jack's mind was reeling, Teri wanted to get back together. He'd asked her if she'd gotten tired of her affair, she had just apologised. In the end he'd agreed to meet her for lunch, they were going to try being together for a while, see what they were like together again. He was still decided whether to mention it to Nina, but once again, he found himself throwing the keys at the attendant and running into a restaurant. He approached the hostess table and stood behind an elderly couple for a moment before they were led off to the bar. "Bauer." he told her, cutting off the urge to say 'CTU' after it.
"Mister Bauer, Miss Myers decided to wait for you in the bar, would you like me to take you to your table and we can have her..."
He cut her off, "No, I think I'll go get her myself." He turned and looked over at the bar, "Thank you." he said by way of valedictory and left to find her.
It took him a few seconds to spot her in the traditional, crowded bar. She was sitting at the bar talking with another man, dressed in a very nice dress, showing off her legs. She had an empty cocktail glass on the bar beside her, and she was holding the cocktail stick in her fingers, in the process of extracting an olive from it, but too busy laughing at one of the guys jokes.
He listened to her voice as he approached, "Well yes, that's another good one, but it wouldn't work on me. If you're going to joke about panty hose, make sure she's wearing them first."
"Ah, another good tip!" commented her admirer.
Jack leaned over and took the olive she'd just pulled off, popping it into his mouth. "Hello Nina." he said, and he stood in front of her chair, not completely blocking her from this guy, but staking a claim on her even so.
She sighed, an impatient sigh. "Hello, Jack." she replied in a similar tone.
They exchanged looks for a few seconds before she slid off of her bar stool. He backed away to allow her to move, and collect her purse. "You should look for your date," she told the guy, "she'll think you stood her up." he then nodded, and lifted his glass.
"It was nice to meet you, Robert." Nina dropped the remaining olives into her empty glass.
Nina turned and followed Jack, closely behind him, out of the bar. Robert called goodbye after her, and she returned his call, all the while Jack led them to the hostess' table. Jack considered being angry or jealous, felt both and also realised it was his fault for arriving late. "I'm sorry I was so late, I had to go over and see..."
She cut him off, "you don't have to explain yourself to me." she told him, in a resentful tone.
The hostess smiled at both of them when she arrived, and asked them to follow another woman. Nina led the way. "You look nice tonight." Jack commented, as they were led across the room. The hostess placed their menu's on their place settings, and Jack pulled out Nina's chair.
"Thank you." she said, brushing against him as she sat down.
Nina didn't order a drink from the waitress, and Jack felt like drinking the entire bar.
-*-*-
"Sorry to turn the moment," Teri began, as she abruptly stopped laughing, and put her hand to her mouth. "But you've just reminded me, we need to have a talk with Kim."
"What's she done now?" he asked, forking up a mouthful of his pasta and raising it to eat.
"She skipped school twice last week. I got a phone call from the school office. I didn't want to talk with her about it until I had some backup." Teri scratched her head. Something that was very easy since she'd gotten her new haircut.
Jack sighed, "Which days, do you know?" he asked.
"The friday and the thursday. She's gone in every day this week, I've been calling to check."
"Don't you drive her to school?" he asked her.
The waiter came over and placed the bill on the table. "Whenever you're ready, sir." he said courteously.
Jack reached over and pulled the little leather wallet towards him whilst Teri spoke. "Of course I do, but once she goes into the school gates I don't really have time to wait and see if she comes out again." She was getting agitated.
He placed a comforting hand on hers as she stared deeply into her plate. "She hates me." she muttered.
"She doesn't hate you, she loves you - Kim's just upset right now." Jack consoled, dropping his voice a tone or two as the bill was collected.
"It'll be easier on her when you move back in."
"It'll be easier on everyone when I move back in." Jack sighed.
Jack pushed his plate off to the side again to make room for the bill, he glanced, obviously at his watch. He didn't like taking more than an hour out of work for lunch. A lot could happen in an hour when your business was terrorism and crime. "Actually, thinking of that...When can you move out?" She asked.
"The end of the month, thirtieth. I'll probably stay there until then." Jack replied.
"You could come earlier, if you..." Teri suggested.
"I'm not trying to punish you by staying away longer, Teri." he told her, "I just need to have a safety net for me." Jack replied. When the waiter left the processed bill on the table he signed it quickly, collected his credit card and got up, Teri did too, and they walked together out of the restaurant, stopping outside her car.
"Well I've got to go - I don't want to stay away from work for too long." Teri nodded, and mumbled something about having to get back to work as well.
"You going to be okay?" he asked her as she opened her car door. She climbed up into the vehicle, and Jack had to shield his eyes from the strong sun in order to look at her.
"I'll be fine, Jack." she started the engine, "We really do have to talk to her Jack, finals are only a month away, and her grades are slipping because of all this crap she keeps pulling."
"I know." he mumbled, pushing her door half way shut for her. "I'll call you and we can talk about this later, I love you."
"I love you too, Jack." she said and leant out the car to kiss him.
He kissed her quickly and pushed the door shut, walking back to his own SUV as she pulled out of her parking space.
-*-*-
"You're not going to believe this!" exclaimed Nina, storming through his open door in what was obviously an angry rage. She leaned in towards him and leant over her hands on the desk. "T'Nelli got another injunction! He's had the court date pushed back another month." She pushed off from his desk and walked a circle around his office for a second to allow herself to calm down.
"Medical reasons! Can you believe that?" she squawked at his locker in the far corner. Then turning back to the only other thing in the room that was conscious. "It doesn't matter the medical condition was caused by some of the drugs ATF are trying to nail him for smuggling over here! He was perfect capable to appear in court for his plea."
"Nina, calm down." He suggested on reflex, she was quite obviously wound up, he could hear her angry breathing, and then she let out a strangled sigh, once again leaning over his desk.
"Jack have you been listening? This means one more month of keeping all the witnesses in protective custody - when they can't return to their normal lives, when the agents that went..."
The truth was Jack hadn't been listening - from the second she'd walked into the room, all he'd thought about was whether or not he should tell her about Teri, was he going to tell her today - or was he putting it off again? The two of them had been meeting for lunches, dinners, movies for the last six, seven weeks, and had decided he'd move back in. They were getting along well, and he was still holding onto Nina's relationship because he couldn't work up the nerve to tell her it was over. He hadn't even tried to give her any signals that anything had changed.
"Nina, shut the door." He cut off whatever she was saying, and caught her by surprise. She scowled, but walked over the other side of the room, and shut the green turquoise door carefully. Allowing the steel latch to lock before she let go and returned to his desk. "Have a seat."
She obliged, sitting in the black guest chair on the opposite side of the desk.
Jack ran his hands across his face and through his hair. "Nina, we should talk." he began.
Nina nodded to herself, she'd been waiting for this conversation ever since they'd started this thing.
"I've been talking to Teri, the problem we had is, he is, gone. We're married, we thought we should work on our relationship. I've agreed to move back in, see what..." he looked up from the pen he'd been turning in his fingers, an anniversary gift, over to Nina, who was gently nodding her head, and watching a spot on the wall. "Nina?" he asked, a little louder to grab her attention.
"I get it Jack," she said, in a decisive tone that she often used at work, "you guys are married, you have a child, I get it - if you can make it work..." The looked him straight in the eyes. "You should try."
Jack nodded, "I just want to get my life back together."
"I get it." she said again. He was now the one averting his eyes.
"Do you want T'Nelli's lawyers' deposition?" she asked, "I've gotten a copy from the courthouse and sent it to legal..."
"There's nothing we can do about it now the judge has ruled." They agreed on this point.
Nina got up to leave, she rarely waited to be dismissed.
"Are you going to be..."
"I'm fine, Jack." she answered, scratching her forehead. "I'll have to organise the funding and agent schedules for the witness protection, new court date etc."
"Yeah." he replied.
"I'll bring them up when they're done."
"Yeah."
-*-*-
Toby reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out the keys to his car, and slotted the appropriate key into the driver's side door. He'd put in another full day, something he'd been doing a lot of recently, and was exhausted. He was hoping he could get home before midnight, but it was nearly twenty to, and home was about a half hours drive away.
"Toby?" Nina's voice from behind him, he unlocked the car and pulled open his door. He wasn't about to let her pull him back into the void of the Los Angeles CTU.
"Yeah?" he turned and watched as she approached. She looked a little disheveled, but still gorgeous as far as he was concerned.
"Toby, my alternator's gone." She told him, coming to stand by his car, "Will you take me home?" she asked, her tone of voice imperceptibly different from her usual tone.
Toby looked at her. She had her key ring slid over her thumb, other than that, she hadn't brought anything out with her. She was watching him intently.
He jerked his head towards the passenger door. "Get in."
She walked around his car and slid into his front passenger door and dropped her car keys and key card on the dash. Toby regarded her through the door for a minute before he got into the drivers seat.
The second he'd pulled the door shut Nina grabbed his shirt collar, and pulled him to her so that as much of their bodies was connected as possible, and kissed him hungrily. She slid her hands from the collar down his chest, sliding her fingers under his shirt to touch his skin. She pushed him backward until he connected with the driver's seat, and then broke the kiss. "Take me home, Toby." she whispered into his mouth, and then snapped back into her seat wiping her eyes.
Toby started the ignition and put the car in gear.
-*-*-
The drive back to work the next morning was in silence, as was the drive to his house the night before. When they got to the office Nina got out of the car as soon as he put on the parking brake. Walking quickly over to her car and getting in the back seat. Toby walked over as she stripped off her shirt and pulled another one from a bag in the boot. He stood in the empty door. "We could have stopped by your apartment..." he suggested.
"We were late enough already." she muttered, pulling the thick black material over her head, and fastening some of the lower buttons on her shirt. She leant forward and pulled the driver's mirror over so she could check her appearance and smoothed a hair behind her ear.
She made a mental note to sort the mirror out before she drove home, and dragged herself out of the car and headed into the office, ignoring Toby and whatever he chose to do.
They reached the door at the same time, and she pulled it open, pushing it wide enough so they could both walk through before it closed. Lisa was standing at the door to the pen, having a conversation with two of the woman from legal and a guy Nina didn't immediately recognise. Nina and Toby walked past them when they began to giggle.
Both turned sharply at the sound, and Nina gave them a glare. She watched as the group split up, and Lisa moved to the clocking in machine for the part time workers and swiped her key card through, and then returned to her huddle.
Nina started towards the coffee room, and Toby followed. Once again, the group giggled. "That's it!" she exclaimed, slamming her hand against the wall, and turning back to them. "What on earth are you laughing about?" she asked. Planting her hands on her hips and staring down Lisa, a tech clerk.
Lisa summoned up courage that no body knew she had - "You guys decided to save on petrol and come in together today then?" she smirked, and dared Nina to answer her.
"In case you didn't notice, Lisa, you're not exactly in court this morning delivering testimony to a high judge about your role in the T'Nelli bust. Toby and I have just been over for a breakfast meeting at district three, explaining why not everything is going as planned. Their agents were the ones that went down out there. Maybe if you'd been on time and working we wouldn't have had any of the problems we did." she gave Lisa a moment to regret her comments, "is there any work you've got to do right now."
Lisa stammered and wandered back to her desk.
Nina turned on Toby "Get back to work." she snarled, and walked over to her corner of the floor. Checking for Jack, the one person who could screw up her story, and also the only person in the office who'd actually care if she walked in with Toby in the morning.
-*-*-
He was moving back in today. Nina thought as she sat down at her computer. She pulled out a legal pad with a few scribbled notes on it, and began to form her official report. Nina had set all her home phone calls to reroute to her cell phone, which was placed on the desk, next to her CTU extension. All her work was set out around her. She didn't want to go home. Toby kept badgering her, but she'd ignored every advance.
She felt irrational, girlish and very stupid but she was hoping he'd call. Even though it had been nearly a month since they'd agreed it was over. She didn't even want to get back together. She just wanted him to want to. But then if he called....
Truth be told she didn't know what she wanted, what she'd do if she got it, if she didn't, how would she talk to him.
The phone rang and Nina nearly jumped a mile. She picked up the black receiver, and watched the clock on the wall 11:56pm. "CTU, this is Myers." she answered quickly.
"Nina, this is Richard Walsh. I need to brief your unit, can you bring everybody in?" asked a familiar voice down the phone.
"Yeah, sure." Nina said, and reached over for her legal pad, writing the exact time down amongst her notes.
"I need everybody - Jack, Jamey, this is going to require the help of the entire unit." Nina nodded, and opened up the personnel records on her computer. "Is this a secure line?" he asked her.
"No." She hadn't been expecting Walsh to call.
"My ETA is twenty-three minutes."
Nina nodded, "I'll have everyone in." she muttered.
"Thank you, Walsh out." He hung up the phone.
First call Jamey, second call Jack, third call....
by Aria
Rating: Pg-13 for very soft sexual content.
Disclaimer: I wish I owned them, but I don't, in particular I'd like Nina's hair do, but maybe my hairdresser can organise that for me.
Spoilers: Up to 5 am, I'm watching in the UK, give me a break.
Synopsis: I'm appalled by the lack of 24 fanfic out on the Internet, so I thought I'd write some myself. There's also a lack of speculation about what went on before 24, so...here it is.
-*-*-
Nina reached a sleepy finger to poke at the elevating nuisance around her nose. For a few seconds in hazy morning sleep she suspected a fly, or an errant strand of hair, but as her awareness grew and her body awoke, she remembered the night before, and a smile formed on her face.
"Whaddar you smiling at?" asked a low, grumbling baritone. Nina laughed, once, and blinked twice to accustom her eyes to the morning light. They hadn't shut the curtains last night, and now the LA sun had taken the opportunity to blare through the window.
Jack rubbed the peacock feather over her cheek once more, and reached over to place it on the bedside table, tucking it carefully between the clock radio and the lamp. Nina angled her head back and over so she could watch his hand, lingering when he was done to read the display on the clock.
Her vision was distracted when he moved over her and kissed her forehead, and as soon as she turned back to him, he kissed the tip of her nose. "Good morning." he whispered happily to her, leaning forward to whisper it into her ear.
Nina swallowed. He always did this to her, she wanted to shiver, but she wasn't cold, it was just him, he had this effect on her. He always had. Jack's breath fluttered across her cheek and she slowly shut her eyes, waiting for him as he lowered his mouth to hers, and kissed her passionately, sliding his tongue slowly into her mouth to duel with hers and softly caress the inside of her mouth just behind her lips, making her moan and open her mouth further to him.
Jack raised fingers to caress her cheeks, and closed her mouth with his before pulling himself away, both of them opening their eyes slowly, as though waking from sleep. Jack pushed his nose into the crook between her neck and her shoulder, and they lay there comfortably breathing softly.
"Don't start something you can't finish, Jack," she warned once the waves of arousal had ebbed a little. "Don't..."
"I can finish it," he mumbled pulling up from his corner, to grasp her lower lip. He moved to kiss her, but pulled back suddenly, just as she'd moved towards him, and smirked at her. "And so can you," he mumbled.
Jack reached his hands under the bed covers and down to her thighs, cupping just beneath her buttocks to pull them up either side of him, caressing, too close for platonics, and all the time smirking at her. She groaned, and arched her back in an effort to meet him, but he moved slightly almost imperceptibly to keep away. "We've got the time." he said in a measured tone.
Nina laughed again, "Christ, Jack." she whispered, and gripped his neck with both hands, pulling him into a kiss.
-*-*-
"So how are things going at work?" asked Kim, gripping a pair of Levi 501's off the shelf. She shook out the assistant's careful folding and held them in front of herself. Judging the lines of the jeans tried to work out if they'd make her hips look big.
"They're fine." he replied, certain that his teenage daughter didn't care.
"People aren't still giving you a hard time about those guys that were taking bribes?" she asked, wandering over to the mirror holding the jeans in front of her like an invisible shield.
"People will always be giving me a hard time at work, honey, it's all part of being the boss." he said smiling at her.
Kim's expression didn't change. She'd dropped her purse at her feet, and was now smoothing the jeans around her thighs. "How's school?" he asked her.
She snapped her head around and smiled, "It's Saturday, can we not get me depressed?" she grumbled.
Jack nodded and leant back on the counter disturbing the lines of countless shirts. "So, um..." she paused and looked at her father in the mirror. "Are you seeing anybody?" she asked, trying to sound as casual as she could.
"Yeah." he too tried to remain nonchalant for this part of the exchange, "it's a woman from work." Kim nodded and looked down at the floor. Jack could have sworn he saw tears brimming and felt the need to say something. "You'd probably like her if you met her."
Jack took a step towards his daughter when she snapped her face up, tearless, and turned back towards him, "I like these." she said, offering a gentle smile, "I'm gonna try them on."
"Okay, honey." he agreed, and watched her walk down to the changing area.
"Watch my bag." she called after her, and he scooped the small black leather handbag off the floor. He had no doubt his daughter's door keys, phone, and purse were in the bag, but also no doubt he'd end up paying for her jeans. And whatever else she bought that day.
-*-*-
Jack glanced at the LCD display just above the clock radio, he was late, already, he hadn't even dropped Kim off at home, let alone gotten changed, or made any progress to the restaurant. He knew he'd disappointed Nina, he also knew she wouldn't say a word to him about it.
Beside him, Kim was launching into the final portion of their day. The part where she talked about all the stuff mom had done that she didn't agree with. She routinely bombarded him with it at the end of their outings in an effort to make him take her away with him, make him come back? He wasn't sure if she even realised she did it. But as he turned onto 10th street, she said the one phrase that had an effect on him.
"Dad, I miss you." she turned her head towards the car window and watched dark pass her by.
Jack glanced over at her, twice, and slowed the car until he reached the driveway to her mother's house. The porch light was on, as was the lounge light, and the upstairs hallway. He slammed the car into park before it had completely stopped, and the engine lurched and stalled.
"And mom won't let me get a drivers license." Kim said jokily to her father, sniffing slightly and wiping moistness from under her eyes.
Jack pulled on the handbrake, and smiled at her, he caught her arm as she pushed the door open. "Kim, regardless of what's going on, we both love you."
"Yeah, right." she mumbled, and took her hand from him to wipe the tears still gathering on her cheeks.
"Even though you're angry at your mom right now, she loves you." he told her.
Kim reached into the backseat and took out an armful of paper shopping bags from the back of the car. She was too upset to talk, and folded her arms in front of herself. "Why...why do I have to stay with..." she tripped over her words, and coughed in an attempt to cover her embarrassment. Jack put a hand on her wrist. "Why do I have to stay with her, when she betrayed us?"
"Honey, she didn't..."
He was cut off, sad Kim had been replaced by angry out-of-control Kim. "She cheated on you dad, she betrayed you, betrayed our family. And if you're going to let that bitch..."
"Kim!" he yelled, immediately softening when he saw the dramatic change on his daughter's face. "I know you're angry right now, but please don't use that word, or anything similar when describing your mother." Kim looked down at her arms.
Jack smiled, and gently rubbed her forearm. "Besides how else would you get these guilt shopping trips." he said and pointed a finger at the bags.
Kim pawed at her face again and pushed a little on the door. "Next time I take you out, wear some of that stuff, I want to see what I paid for." he watched as she brightened up a little. "I've got to go, I promised I'd meet someone..."
"The woman you're seeing."
"Yeah." she got out of the car.
"Good night, honey." he called out to her as she pushed the door shut. Jack waited until she'd gotten her keys out of her purse before he put the car in reverse, and pulled out of the drive.
-*-*-
He'd taken twenty-five minutes to get home, four, five-at-a-stretch minutes to shower, and fifteen minutes to dry and dress. He'd gotten straight into the car, and driven to the restaurant, which was nearly another half hour's drive. Now he was tossing the keys to the attendant, and racing through the front doors of the restaurant.
So much for drinks at nine, dinner at nine thirty. He walked up to the host's table, where a woman greeted him and asked him his name. "Bauer." he said, scanning the room, the woman read down the list, whilst he checked the tables for Nina, there she was, slightly off to the edge of the room, drinking a glass of red wine.
"There's no need, I've spotted my party." He pointed towards Nina, and skipped through the tables towards her.
She'd just summoned a waiter when he got there. "Can I have another glass of the cabernet?" she asked him.
"And I'd like a scotch." he said, announcing his presence. The waiter nodded their requests and walked towards the bar.
"Hi." Jack said, trying to remain as even toned as he could. He'd seen Nina angry, and he didn't like it.
"Hi." she replied, as he lowered himself into his seat.
"You haven't ordered yet?" it was meant as a question, but in his attempts at evenness it came out as more of a statement.
"No." she answered.
Jack's need to apologise to her reared up, "How late am I?" he asked.
She reached her wrist above the table, and checked her watch. "Thirty-Nine minutes." she said to him. Still even, still empty tone.
"For dinner." he said, she nodded, pursing her lips.
"So, how many guys hit on you whilst you were in the bar?" he asked her, in an attempt to lighten the mood.
She laughed. "Wouldn't you like to know?" she joked back.
"Well if you won't tell me, Ms Myers, I am a trained investigative agent, I'm sure that's information I'm able to obtain." He reached for her hand across the table, and they met over her empty wine glass. She laughed again. "Sorry for making you wait so long."
She smiled, a little more regretfully this time, and opened her mouth to speak again when the waiter returned and set down there glasses. He had to interrupt their hands to retrieve her glass. "How many of those have I got to catch up with?" he asked her, tapping the edge of her empty glass before the waiter took it away.
She scratched her forehead. "Four." she answered.
He nodded, and gulped down his scotch as a shot, placing it on the waiter's tray. "Bring me another one of those, a double." He told him, and turned back to Nina. She laughed again, and tapped her index finger into her wine.
"So how did today go with Kim?" she asked him, bringing the damp finger to her mouth to suck the wine off of it.
"Good, I've spent loads of money on her, made her cry and I'm slowly making her fat."
"Well you're accomplishing two out of three of those tonight with me."
"Really?"
Their hands met again.
"Yeah, you're paying for dinner tonight."
"Because I was late."
"Yeah."
"Because I was late - am I making you cry...."
"What?"
"I was late dropping Kim off, it wasn't like I..."
"You didn't make me cry, Bauer."
"So I'm making you fat, too?"
"I am going to be eating tonight."
"I will have the Caesar salad, and my date will have the lard with the blue cheese dressing, and one of those heart restarting machines on the side."
"What did you do to Kim?" she asked, swapping hands with him so she could pick up her wine. "To make her cry?" she prompted.
"Let her talk about her mom, me, the whole..."
"Yeah." She put down the wine again, and the waiter brought his scotch.
They waited in silence for their waiter to leave. "We should think about ordering." he suggested.
Nina passed him the menu, he didn't have a copy as he'd ran past the hostess. "What were you going to say before?" he asked her, as casually as possible.
"When?" she asked, clearing her throat.
"When I said sorry for keeping you waiting..." he prompted her this time.
She took a long sip of her wine, evading, a Nina tactic. She knew whenever, whenever he was lying, and he could only tell she was evading when she was drunk.
He took his attention off the menu. "Nina, what were you going to say?" he asked again.
"I've been waiting for a few years already." she muttered, and took another long sip, pulling her other hand from his grip. He held it tightly. She wasn't going anywhere, not for the moment anyway.
-*-*-
"Toby, what are the predictions like?" he asked the resentful looking young man in the far corner of his office.
"Getting in isn't going to be the hard part, although it'll be hard. They're estimating nearly an hour for entry and then once they're on the inside another three hours." Toby recited, almost like an encyclopaedia. He was glaring at Nina, making it incredibly obvious that he knew. Jack suspected Toby was giving signals loud enough for everyone to hear.
Either way, he had a job to do. He glanced over at the white board that had been set up off to the side. A satellite photo of Robert T'Nelli's stronghold had been stuck onto it, and around it, the planned agent movements had been drawn. The plan appeared sound, all the angles Jack had asked about, which were usually those not covered, had been organised, so he nodded, "Okay," he said, sitting up in his chair. "It's a go, I'll approve this mission plan." he clarified, and another agent leant forward with the official tactical plan, all binded, typed up, ready to be presented to the judge when they tried this scum.
Jack signed his name next to his title, and slid it across the desk to Nina who'd moved towards him in the last few seconds. He handed her his black fountain pen, and she signed the plan in her slot just above his. He pulled his eyes from her hands to glance over at Toby, who seemed to be giving evil glares to his pen, and then watched as Nina handed it to the young woman who'd given it to him.
"Looks like you've got a go, people, good work." he said, and stood up to indicate to his subordinates he wanted them to leave.
Nina stood and watched everybody clear, slowly following the last person, staggering her exit just long enough so, she could turn in the doorway to talk to him without anyone over hearing. "You busy tonight?" she asked him, tapping the doorframe.
"No." he replied, "You want to do something?" Jack was beginning to wonder if one time they'd run into one of their colleagues, whilst out together, as far as all were concerned, he was still with Teri. He hadn't spoken to a solicitor or taken off his wedding band.
"I made reservations at Les Artistes." she replied.
"That's a bit presumptuous." he admonished.
She merely raised her eyebrows in response.
"What time?"
"Nine O'clock table, you want to meet in the bar beforehand?" she asked, taking a step back into his office.
"Half hour before?" he suggested and she nodded. "I'll try not to be late." he said, half as an apology for dinner last week.
"If you are you're paying, Mister Bauer, I don't like being stood up." she pressed her palm against his tie for only a second. They were standing in an area of his office that was visible from below.
He smiled as she walked away, remembering a night at that restaurant with Teri. "Nina." he called as she rounded the door.
"Yep?"
"Wear sensible shoes." he ordered, "We're going to be dancing."
Nina smiled and walked down the steps towards her own work area.
-*-*-
Jack undid his tie and pulled it out of his shirt. He glanced at the time on the answering machine before he hit the play back button. It was nearly seven thirty. Plenty of time to have a shower, get dressed and make it to the restaurant. He considered getting there early and waiting for her with a glass of her favourite wine.
"Hey, Jack are you there..." it was Teri's voice, "It's Teri, I...." A long pause. "Look, I'll call later on tonight." she said and hung up. The answer-phone recalled the time and today's date. She was his only message.
Jack ran his hand across his chin, and then picked up the phone and hit speed dial 2, his old home number before he could change his mind.
Kimberley picked up the phone, "Hello?"
"Hey, honey it's Dad, uh, your mom called me and left a message, can you get her?"
"Umm, okay..." she replied, and pulled her head back from the receiver, but obviously didn't cover it, as the next thing he heard was "Mooooommmmm!"
A few seconds later his wife's voice appeared on the phone. "Jack?" she asked, sounding confused.
"Yeah, it's me." he replied.
"I, uh, was hoping we could, just..." Teri tripped and stumbled over her words until eventually she'd asked him to come over and talk. Jack agreed and rushed to get ready for dinner, hoping he'd be able to stop and talk to Teri before meeting Nina at the restaurant.
-*-*-
Nina spotted the hostess making her way across the room out of the corner of her eye, but didn't pay much attention to her, she was periodically scanning the room for Jack, who was now nearly ten minutes overdue from the time they'd agreed to meet in the bar.
The hostess tapped her on the shoulder and she turned to look at her. "Excuse me, Ms Myers?" she inquired, and Nina turned, "Yes?" she answered.
"I have a message for you from a 'Jack Bauer' " she said his name like he was a model of a toy or a car.
Nina placed her olives back into her cocktail. "Yes?" she encouraged the slightly younger blonde woman.
"He says he's going to be late, he said to wait for him at the table." She read the message off of a scrap of paper bearing the restaurant's logo on it.
"Okay, thank you." Nina said quickly, dismissing the woman and turning her back to her to finish off her drink.
The guy at the bar next to her turned around and watched her for a few seconds before he spoke. Nina tried to avoid eye contact, twirling the cocktail stick with its olives around in the martini glass. "So your date's late too?" he asked conversationally.
"Yes." she replied.
"I'm on a blind date." he informed her, "My sister set me up, she claims it's one of her more attractive friends." He laughed at his own joke, and focused all his attention on Nina when she didn't respond.
"When you walked in here, I believed her for a second." he said. Nina smiled to her drink. "I'm Robert," he greeted, and held out his hand. Nina finally turned and shook his hand. "Robert Borne, and you are?"
She sighed, for a fleeting moment she considered talking to him would make Jack regretful when he turned up late, and she decided to answer. "Nina Myers."
"Can I get you a drink whilst we wait?" he asked her.
Nina reached over and collected her drink off of the bar, she tapped the side of the glass with her index finger. "I've already got one, thanks." Nina took a sip of it to prove her point, deliberately only taking a small sip so as not to drain her drink and give him further cause.
Robert took the opportunity to check out her clothing, as though he hadn't already. She reached a hand behind her back and pulled her dress down from the top at the back, underneath her cardigan, which would raise it at the front without being too obvious. The dress was a deep dark blue, strappy made of a heavy material that Nina wouldn't have been able to name in a million years. It was basic, no sparkly bits, sequins, flowers, any of that crap, just a low cut front with tiny black straps, and it cut off a few inches above her normal work skirt length. She'd covered up her shoulders to the world in the bar, and the cold March air with a black cardigan, made of soft, but thin and certainly not fluffy wool, and she was glad she had at this moment. Even so, Nina felt the outfit to be excessively girlie.
"What time were you supposed to meet?" he asked her, when he'd finished giving her the once over for the second time.
"Our table's reserved for nine." she answered.
"At least he's giving you fair warning." he replied.
"I suppose." Nina answered cautiously, "What time were you supposed to meet?" she asked.
"Our table's nine-fifteen." He answered.
"And you were due to meet in the bar at...." she let her voice trail off, hoping he'd fill in the blank.
"Oh we're meeting at nine." he answered her.
"It's not even nine yet, and you've written her off already." Nina shook her head and turned her head back to the bar, downing the rest of her martini. She wasn't going to let him buy her another, but she needed to drink it.
"You've written your date off too." he said to her, adopting a slightly less carefree tone.
"What?" she turned back to him and scowled, "no I haven't."
"Sure you have, it hasn't even begun, and you're already talking to other guys."
"You started talking to me." she retaliated, instantly realising what an idiot she must have sounded like.
"You didn't have to keep talking back though did you." He leaned in and said to her ear. Nina turned back to her drink and taped it. A nearby bartender came over. "Bombay Sapphire Martini," she ordered, "Dry." He nodded and began to mix her drink.
"At least I've met my date." she rebutted, "at least I know what I think of him, and we don't have a chance." Her tone became morose, and in her peripheral vision she saw Robert, the surname was either not memorable or necessary at this point, put his drink down on a coaster near her, and hunch over the bar so he was level with her.
"Why don't you have a chance?" he asked quietly. The bartender brought over her drink and, as Nina reached for her purse, Robert told the bartender to put it on the bill under his name. She still didn't pay attention to the surname.
She didn't answer, just thanked him for the drink and sipped it. "You an actress?" she shook her head. "Is he married?" Nina took another sip.
He straightened a little. "So you're the other woman?"
"Not exactly, I'm the fling. The one in the middle. Separated. When they get back together I'll be a cute story to tell the kids." Nina closed her eyes and rested her forehead on the tips of her fingers. Now she felt like an idiot, and she wasn't even drunk yet. "Kid." she corrected herself, and took another, longer sip of the martini.
The blonde woman who'd given her the message earlier appeared once again behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. Nina swiveled the chair round to look at her this time. "Excuse me, Ms Myers, your table is ready early if you would like to wait for your companion in there."
Nina looked over at Robert. He was smiling. He seemed like an okay guy. "No, I think I'll wait in here. Can you call me again when my companion arrives?" she asked.
The woman nodded, but made a slightly annoyed voice, "We'll hold your table until your companion gets here." she said, waited for Nina to thank her, and then left.
"Should I presume that my company isn't as aesthetically displeasing as you've led me to believe?" he enquired.
"I wouldn't go that far." she smiled, and turned her chair to face him, the guy behind him moved and he slid onto his bar stool.
Robert took a sip of his own, largely forgotten drink, and leaned towards her, "So, seeing as we both have dates, and nothing rides on what I say, would you like to hear the worst chat up line in the world?"
Nina laughed, "Shoot."
"Okay," he coughed a little to set it up. "Do you know what the difference is between a sandwich and a blow job?"
Nina raised her eyebrows, and brought her drink to her lips. She glanced up at Robert, "Oh, you want me to answer?" he nodded. "No."
"In that case.....would you like to have lunch with me sometime?"
They both laughed, and Nina took her sip. "That's a good one...I've certainly never heard it."
"Good." he replied.
"Except it'll get a laugh from your girl, so it'll get you in the door."
"Think I should try it on my blind date?"
"If you like her."
"And you're sure that you're not her?"
"Yep."
"Damn."
-*-*-
Jack's mind was reeling, Teri wanted to get back together. He'd asked her if she'd gotten tired of her affair, she had just apologised. In the end he'd agreed to meet her for lunch, they were going to try being together for a while, see what they were like together again. He was still decided whether to mention it to Nina, but once again, he found himself throwing the keys at the attendant and running into a restaurant. He approached the hostess table and stood behind an elderly couple for a moment before they were led off to the bar. "Bauer." he told her, cutting off the urge to say 'CTU' after it.
"Mister Bauer, Miss Myers decided to wait for you in the bar, would you like me to take you to your table and we can have her..."
He cut her off, "No, I think I'll go get her myself." He turned and looked over at the bar, "Thank you." he said by way of valedictory and left to find her.
It took him a few seconds to spot her in the traditional, crowded bar. She was sitting at the bar talking with another man, dressed in a very nice dress, showing off her legs. She had an empty cocktail glass on the bar beside her, and she was holding the cocktail stick in her fingers, in the process of extracting an olive from it, but too busy laughing at one of the guys jokes.
He listened to her voice as he approached, "Well yes, that's another good one, but it wouldn't work on me. If you're going to joke about panty hose, make sure she's wearing them first."
"Ah, another good tip!" commented her admirer.
Jack leaned over and took the olive she'd just pulled off, popping it into his mouth. "Hello Nina." he said, and he stood in front of her chair, not completely blocking her from this guy, but staking a claim on her even so.
She sighed, an impatient sigh. "Hello, Jack." she replied in a similar tone.
They exchanged looks for a few seconds before she slid off of her bar stool. He backed away to allow her to move, and collect her purse. "You should look for your date," she told the guy, "she'll think you stood her up." he then nodded, and lifted his glass.
"It was nice to meet you, Robert." Nina dropped the remaining olives into her empty glass.
Nina turned and followed Jack, closely behind him, out of the bar. Robert called goodbye after her, and she returned his call, all the while Jack led them to the hostess' table. Jack considered being angry or jealous, felt both and also realised it was his fault for arriving late. "I'm sorry I was so late, I had to go over and see..."
She cut him off, "you don't have to explain yourself to me." she told him, in a resentful tone.
The hostess smiled at both of them when she arrived, and asked them to follow another woman. Nina led the way. "You look nice tonight." Jack commented, as they were led across the room. The hostess placed their menu's on their place settings, and Jack pulled out Nina's chair.
"Thank you." she said, brushing against him as she sat down.
Nina didn't order a drink from the waitress, and Jack felt like drinking the entire bar.
-*-*-
"Sorry to turn the moment," Teri began, as she abruptly stopped laughing, and put her hand to her mouth. "But you've just reminded me, we need to have a talk with Kim."
"What's she done now?" he asked, forking up a mouthful of his pasta and raising it to eat.
"She skipped school twice last week. I got a phone call from the school office. I didn't want to talk with her about it until I had some backup." Teri scratched her head. Something that was very easy since she'd gotten her new haircut.
Jack sighed, "Which days, do you know?" he asked.
"The friday and the thursday. She's gone in every day this week, I've been calling to check."
"Don't you drive her to school?" he asked her.
The waiter came over and placed the bill on the table. "Whenever you're ready, sir." he said courteously.
Jack reached over and pulled the little leather wallet towards him whilst Teri spoke. "Of course I do, but once she goes into the school gates I don't really have time to wait and see if she comes out again." She was getting agitated.
He placed a comforting hand on hers as she stared deeply into her plate. "She hates me." she muttered.
"She doesn't hate you, she loves you - Kim's just upset right now." Jack consoled, dropping his voice a tone or two as the bill was collected.
"It'll be easier on her when you move back in."
"It'll be easier on everyone when I move back in." Jack sighed.
Jack pushed his plate off to the side again to make room for the bill, he glanced, obviously at his watch. He didn't like taking more than an hour out of work for lunch. A lot could happen in an hour when your business was terrorism and crime. "Actually, thinking of that...When can you move out?" She asked.
"The end of the month, thirtieth. I'll probably stay there until then." Jack replied.
"You could come earlier, if you..." Teri suggested.
"I'm not trying to punish you by staying away longer, Teri." he told her, "I just need to have a safety net for me." Jack replied. When the waiter left the processed bill on the table he signed it quickly, collected his credit card and got up, Teri did too, and they walked together out of the restaurant, stopping outside her car.
"Well I've got to go - I don't want to stay away from work for too long." Teri nodded, and mumbled something about having to get back to work as well.
"You going to be okay?" he asked her as she opened her car door. She climbed up into the vehicle, and Jack had to shield his eyes from the strong sun in order to look at her.
"I'll be fine, Jack." she started the engine, "We really do have to talk to her Jack, finals are only a month away, and her grades are slipping because of all this crap she keeps pulling."
"I know." he mumbled, pushing her door half way shut for her. "I'll call you and we can talk about this later, I love you."
"I love you too, Jack." she said and leant out the car to kiss him.
He kissed her quickly and pushed the door shut, walking back to his own SUV as she pulled out of her parking space.
-*-*-
"You're not going to believe this!" exclaimed Nina, storming through his open door in what was obviously an angry rage. She leaned in towards him and leant over her hands on the desk. "T'Nelli got another injunction! He's had the court date pushed back another month." She pushed off from his desk and walked a circle around his office for a second to allow herself to calm down.
"Medical reasons! Can you believe that?" she squawked at his locker in the far corner. Then turning back to the only other thing in the room that was conscious. "It doesn't matter the medical condition was caused by some of the drugs ATF are trying to nail him for smuggling over here! He was perfect capable to appear in court for his plea."
"Nina, calm down." He suggested on reflex, she was quite obviously wound up, he could hear her angry breathing, and then she let out a strangled sigh, once again leaning over his desk.
"Jack have you been listening? This means one more month of keeping all the witnesses in protective custody - when they can't return to their normal lives, when the agents that went..."
The truth was Jack hadn't been listening - from the second she'd walked into the room, all he'd thought about was whether or not he should tell her about Teri, was he going to tell her today - or was he putting it off again? The two of them had been meeting for lunches, dinners, movies for the last six, seven weeks, and had decided he'd move back in. They were getting along well, and he was still holding onto Nina's relationship because he couldn't work up the nerve to tell her it was over. He hadn't even tried to give her any signals that anything had changed.
"Nina, shut the door." He cut off whatever she was saying, and caught her by surprise. She scowled, but walked over the other side of the room, and shut the green turquoise door carefully. Allowing the steel latch to lock before she let go and returned to his desk. "Have a seat."
She obliged, sitting in the black guest chair on the opposite side of the desk.
Jack ran his hands across his face and through his hair. "Nina, we should talk." he began.
Nina nodded to herself, she'd been waiting for this conversation ever since they'd started this thing.
"I've been talking to Teri, the problem we had is, he is, gone. We're married, we thought we should work on our relationship. I've agreed to move back in, see what..." he looked up from the pen he'd been turning in his fingers, an anniversary gift, over to Nina, who was gently nodding her head, and watching a spot on the wall. "Nina?" he asked, a little louder to grab her attention.
"I get it Jack," she said, in a decisive tone that she often used at work, "you guys are married, you have a child, I get it - if you can make it work..." The looked him straight in the eyes. "You should try."
Jack nodded, "I just want to get my life back together."
"I get it." she said again. He was now the one averting his eyes.
"Do you want T'Nelli's lawyers' deposition?" she asked, "I've gotten a copy from the courthouse and sent it to legal..."
"There's nothing we can do about it now the judge has ruled." They agreed on this point.
Nina got up to leave, she rarely waited to be dismissed.
"Are you going to be..."
"I'm fine, Jack." she answered, scratching her forehead. "I'll have to organise the funding and agent schedules for the witness protection, new court date etc."
"Yeah." he replied.
"I'll bring them up when they're done."
"Yeah."
-*-*-
Toby reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out the keys to his car, and slotted the appropriate key into the driver's side door. He'd put in another full day, something he'd been doing a lot of recently, and was exhausted. He was hoping he could get home before midnight, but it was nearly twenty to, and home was about a half hours drive away.
"Toby?" Nina's voice from behind him, he unlocked the car and pulled open his door. He wasn't about to let her pull him back into the void of the Los Angeles CTU.
"Yeah?" he turned and watched as she approached. She looked a little disheveled, but still gorgeous as far as he was concerned.
"Toby, my alternator's gone." She told him, coming to stand by his car, "Will you take me home?" she asked, her tone of voice imperceptibly different from her usual tone.
Toby looked at her. She had her key ring slid over her thumb, other than that, she hadn't brought anything out with her. She was watching him intently.
He jerked his head towards the passenger door. "Get in."
She walked around his car and slid into his front passenger door and dropped her car keys and key card on the dash. Toby regarded her through the door for a minute before he got into the drivers seat.
The second he'd pulled the door shut Nina grabbed his shirt collar, and pulled him to her so that as much of their bodies was connected as possible, and kissed him hungrily. She slid her hands from the collar down his chest, sliding her fingers under his shirt to touch his skin. She pushed him backward until he connected with the driver's seat, and then broke the kiss. "Take me home, Toby." she whispered into his mouth, and then snapped back into her seat wiping her eyes.
Toby started the ignition and put the car in gear.
-*-*-
The drive back to work the next morning was in silence, as was the drive to his house the night before. When they got to the office Nina got out of the car as soon as he put on the parking brake. Walking quickly over to her car and getting in the back seat. Toby walked over as she stripped off her shirt and pulled another one from a bag in the boot. He stood in the empty door. "We could have stopped by your apartment..." he suggested.
"We were late enough already." she muttered, pulling the thick black material over her head, and fastening some of the lower buttons on her shirt. She leant forward and pulled the driver's mirror over so she could check her appearance and smoothed a hair behind her ear.
She made a mental note to sort the mirror out before she drove home, and dragged herself out of the car and headed into the office, ignoring Toby and whatever he chose to do.
They reached the door at the same time, and she pulled it open, pushing it wide enough so they could both walk through before it closed. Lisa was standing at the door to the pen, having a conversation with two of the woman from legal and a guy Nina didn't immediately recognise. Nina and Toby walked past them when they began to giggle.
Both turned sharply at the sound, and Nina gave them a glare. She watched as the group split up, and Lisa moved to the clocking in machine for the part time workers and swiped her key card through, and then returned to her huddle.
Nina started towards the coffee room, and Toby followed. Once again, the group giggled. "That's it!" she exclaimed, slamming her hand against the wall, and turning back to them. "What on earth are you laughing about?" she asked. Planting her hands on her hips and staring down Lisa, a tech clerk.
Lisa summoned up courage that no body knew she had - "You guys decided to save on petrol and come in together today then?" she smirked, and dared Nina to answer her.
"In case you didn't notice, Lisa, you're not exactly in court this morning delivering testimony to a high judge about your role in the T'Nelli bust. Toby and I have just been over for a breakfast meeting at district three, explaining why not everything is going as planned. Their agents were the ones that went down out there. Maybe if you'd been on time and working we wouldn't have had any of the problems we did." she gave Lisa a moment to regret her comments, "is there any work you've got to do right now."
Lisa stammered and wandered back to her desk.
Nina turned on Toby "Get back to work." she snarled, and walked over to her corner of the floor. Checking for Jack, the one person who could screw up her story, and also the only person in the office who'd actually care if she walked in with Toby in the morning.
-*-*-
He was moving back in today. Nina thought as she sat down at her computer. She pulled out a legal pad with a few scribbled notes on it, and began to form her official report. Nina had set all her home phone calls to reroute to her cell phone, which was placed on the desk, next to her CTU extension. All her work was set out around her. She didn't want to go home. Toby kept badgering her, but she'd ignored every advance.
She felt irrational, girlish and very stupid but she was hoping he'd call. Even though it had been nearly a month since they'd agreed it was over. She didn't even want to get back together. She just wanted him to want to. But then if he called....
Truth be told she didn't know what she wanted, what she'd do if she got it, if she didn't, how would she talk to him.
The phone rang and Nina nearly jumped a mile. She picked up the black receiver, and watched the clock on the wall 11:56pm. "CTU, this is Myers." she answered quickly.
"Nina, this is Richard Walsh. I need to brief your unit, can you bring everybody in?" asked a familiar voice down the phone.
"Yeah, sure." Nina said, and reached over for her legal pad, writing the exact time down amongst her notes.
"I need everybody - Jack, Jamey, this is going to require the help of the entire unit." Nina nodded, and opened up the personnel records on her computer. "Is this a secure line?" he asked her.
"No." She hadn't been expecting Walsh to call.
"My ETA is twenty-three minutes."
Nina nodded, "I'll have everyone in." she muttered.
"Thank you, Walsh out." He hung up the phone.
First call Jamey, second call Jack, third call....