Los Angeles
Pretty much everyone else had cleared out, but I was still working. I'm a workaholic. I never thought I'd say that till I came to work for CTU. But I had been working more and more and not regretting any of it.
I packed up my stuff and closed down my station, grabbed my car keys and my jacket, and headed for the door.
Something made me turn back. I paused, looking up at Jack's vacant yet eerily lit glass office. I smiled somehow at the craziness of my world, of my life, and then I turned and walked on.
After all, there's always tomorrow.
Tell me who you see
When you look in my eyes
Yeah it's really me
That you don't recognize
I'd become a completely different person, even from the CTU agent I had been before London and everything after came into my life. I was now a leather-jacket wearing (okay, well, I'd always done that) team-leading senior staff member, vampire slayer, best friend, partner, housemate, surrogate sister, ex-girlfriend, many, many things. And where I went, the best in people seemed to take on the worst in people, and most of the time, the good guys won.
My car unlocked and I slipped behind the wheel, dropping my attache case on the passenger seat. The engine flared to life, and I cranked the Dakota Moon and decided that no matter what I was or had been, what I should be focusing on is what I could be. With that in mind, I backed out of my assigned parking space and headed for the one place that mattered most: home.
Things were changing. I'd be ready. We all would.
I almost believed you and gave up
When you wrote me off
You almost succeeded completely
Till somehow I rescued the faith that I lost
****
He had been staring at the medal for the last twenty minutes straight. Jack's a modest guy, and he doesn't like being rewarded for his work, and especially after so long, it was just kind of weird. He looked around the table and saw all of us trying not to snicker, smile or otherwise let on that we were rather amused by our longtime boss.
"What?" he deadpanned.
"Nothing," Matt quipped.
"Absolutely nothing," I chimed in.
"Yeah, you're so paranoid, Jack," Lex said, smirking anyway.
"Oh, that must be it," our boss said, rolling his eyes. "Don't you people have work to do?"
"Nothing," Kevin said with a shrug.
Mark nodded. "Yeah, absolutely nothing."
And Jack Bauer just gave up and smiled.
Jack Bauer remains the Special Agent In Charge of the Counter Terrorist Unit's Los Angeles office. He was awarded the CIA's highest duty commendation for his work at CTU. Following the end of Operation Iraqi Freedom, he created the External Operations division at CTU, allowing Brittany to make Code Black a sanctioned part of CTU. Matt DeVincentis was the first person to discover the truth. He joined the squad two weeks later. Lex Richards transferred over to serve with his partner. CTU remains one of the CIA's most trusted yet most underrecognized subdivisions.
****
Whatcha gonna say, whatcha gonna do
How you gonna get to me now
Never understood, no you never could
Never really knew me anyhow
The dart thudded into the target with a singular sound. Jason examined the point of contact with a technical eye. He always double-checked new weapons, mostly because I'd pounded into everyone the lecture about how they can break and then you end up dead, although I didn't say it like that.
"Damn, this thing is precise."
"That's the idea," Lan said, checking the results on her targeting computer. "What do you think?"
"I think it works. It should work," he corrected himself.
She nodded. "Good. Let's go over it again."
"Never can do it enough times," Jason muttered, reloading the clip.
He spun and fired clean through his first projectile.
You kicked me when I was down
It's funny how things come around
'Cause look at me now
****
The two of us sat across from each other at the table, and I shifted and scanned the room uneasily. "You know, I think this is the first time I've ever done this."
Frank cracked a smile. "What, gone on a normal date?"
"Well, we tried, but most of the time it was interrupted by Code Five crises, or more likely, one or the both of us having some sort of ideological difficulty." I laughed softly. "But it's nice to not have to worry about things as much anymore. To live life as it was meant to be lived, and take it as it comes."
"Amen to that." He studied my face. "You're really okay with what you're doing now?"
"I have to be." I nodded. "Somebody has to do it, and I'm already standing here."
He smirked at my half-sarcastic comment. Over the speakers, a familiar old song began to play. I recognized it by the first few notes as The Wonders' "All My Only Dreams." I've never been a fan of older music, but I've always loved that song. And, as it turns out, so does he. The two of us couldn't hold back smirking, and then he offered me his hand and asked me to dance. In his arms I felt like everything might be all right, if I just gave it the time it deserved.
"What about you, though?" he said. "Personally, where do you see yourself?"
I shrugged. "Just doing what I've always done. Just going out and playing."
"Sounds like a good philosophy." He smirked. "First we show up, then we see what happens."
I nodded. Every now and then, people have a way of surprising you.
The Code Five invasion had its second wave a year later. It was finally put down by the forces of Code Black, with assistance by the whole of the Counter Terrorist Unit's Los Angeles office and London CIB agents Michael Colefield and Vaughan Rice. Brittany, along with Leticia, transferred to UCLA after her sophomore year and moved to Los Angeles. She was reassigned to head CTU's new External Operations division, where she remains today. Frank continues to work with his partner, Joe Friday, in the LAPD's Robbery Homicide Division. Brittany and Frank continued to date.
They are still together.
****
But
now all of a sudden
You remember my name
You're doing your best to convince me that it's only words
But I'll never forget how you hurt me
Now that finally the tables have turned
I sat at the conference table listening to Weiss's briefing. All hands were present for the mandatory meeting.
I'd forgotten exactly how many of us there were. But I knew them all. Past, present – people I'd worked with for years, people I had worked with for only months. It didn't make a difference. We were all together. And we were all incredibly dedicated to the most unlikely of pursuits, the kind of thing that would make Michael Crichton's brain freeze.
Weiss went on, and so did the
rest of our lives.
Whatcha gonna say, whatcha gonna do
How you gonna get me to me now
Never understood, no you never could
Never really knew me anyhow
****
"I think I'm getting good at this," was Derek's quip as we gathered around with a pizza and a stack of bad sci-fi movies from the Blockbuster. It was Chloe's birthday, and we were celebrating by lampooning the worst of the worst, Mystery Science Theater 3000 style. But that wasn't what he was talking about.
I smirked. "Hey, you do have the top termination count among all of us."
"Not for long, he doesn't," Jason quipped.
"Is that a challenge?"
"Did you want it to be?"
I looked past them at Chloe. "How do you live like this?"
"After a while, it all sounds the same," she quipped.
"Be that as it may," Derek said slowly, "you know I wouldn't change a thing."
We all mumbled various agreement.
In the summer Derek finally discovered that his twin brother, Adam, was alive, having faked his own demise in order to begin deep cover validation of his own work under circumstances beyond his control. Adam and Chloe were finally married in the fall. Adam Barnes joined Code Black and remains under deep cover as an intelligence source, while Derek Barnes remains the unit's third-in-command and a member of CTU External Operations. Between them, the brothers were pivotal in the battle to protect Los Angeles.
****
You kicked me when I was down
It's funny how things have turned out
'Cause look at me now
'Cause look at me now
Look at me now
CTU buzzed with activity, ever on alert, ever trying to predict the future and doing a damn good job.
Lex swiveled in his chair, capable of doing three things at once without ever losing his focus. He had an odd smirk on his face as he reached for another donut. Walking by, Jackson just glanced over knowingly and chose not to ask.
Meanwhile, Kevin went to file his next report up in Jack's office, with Steve and Tony working away on this project or that project on the main floor.
Something was always happening
at CTU.
Never thought I could
Never thought I would
****
"So," I said leadingly.
"So what?" Leticia asked me, eyebrow raised.
"So what happened?"
"Happened with what?"
"Happened with you."
"Things. Things happened."
"Right." I snickered. "Don't tell me then."
"Fine, I went out on one date with Vaughn! One date!" She glowered at me, but she was laughing. "Shouldn't you be saving the world or something?"
I just smiled. "It's not over."
Leticia passed her CIA agent examination and became a full-fledged CIA agent. When Weiss transferred to CTU External Operations, she took up his position. She transferred to UCLA and a new Agency apartment-operations base at the end of her sophomore year. And yes, she has been seen in the company of her new partner, but she remains silent on the subject. However, she manages a successful career, academic honors, and, unlike the rest of her cohorts, her sanity.
****
The Vault had become its own room now, just almost two years later. Specifications borrowed from CIB London. Storing the ashes of all the Code Fives we had killed. It was cold in here for good reason. I stood in the middle of the rows upon rows of chambers, each of which held one carefully catalogued tube with Code Five remains. Any of which could be regenerated if there was contact with Code Five blood, but until then was prisoner in this cramped space.
After a moment more of
reflection, I turned and walked out, the door clicking shut behind me.
You thought I was beat to the ground
It's funny how things have turned out
Everything's all turned around
So look at me now