At long last, here is chapter 8. The first part of this resumes the flashback from chapter 7. I decided to change the timeframe of that a little, so that this flashback takes place during Day 8 instead of the day before. I apologize if the order is a little confusing here. I put the season 8 episode numbers in to help alleviate any confusion.

Thanks so much to everyone who has been reviewing and keeping me motivated...please keep it up!

10:00 AM on Day 8 (during episode #19) - cont'd from chapter 7

Audrey just stares at her father with disbelief.

"Why...why would you do that?" she asks, the shock evident in her voice.

"Because, I thought it was what was best for you," he explains. "The night you came back, I had spent the last three months believing that you were dead. And then I found out you were alive, but it was like you were a different person. You flinched when I tried to take your hand, you were too terrified to speak, and I wasn't even sure if you knew who I was."

"Dad, it wasn't Jack's fault," she insists. "He never asked me to go over there. You know that!"

"Of course I know that. Deep down I knew it wasn't his fault, and I eventually told him that. But all I could think about was keeping you safe, and I was afraid that as long as you were around Jack you wouldn't be."

Audrey shakes her head with disbelief. "What did you say to him?" she asks.

Heller sighs, knowing this conversation is only going to get worse. "When I came to CTU to get you, Jack was in holding because he had disobeyed Daniels' order to abort the rescue operation. When I went to talk to him, he looked me in the eye and promised me that he would take care of you no matter how long it took for you to get better. I told him that I wasn't going to let that happen, that I didn't want him coming anywhere near you ever again."

"And that was it? Jack just said ok?" Audrey asks sarcastically, knowing there's no way Jack would have folded that easily.

"No, not exactly," Heller admits. "I told him he was cursed, that everyone he touched ended up dead one way or another."

Audrey is shocked and appalled. "You said that to him after he saved my life, after he risked everything and was prepared to give his own life to get me away from the Chinese?" she asks with disbelief.

"I didn't know at that point that he had planned to blow up the building, but I know that's no excuse. I'm not proud of what I said and I know it was unfair, but I did what I felt I had to do to protect you."

"What...what did he say when you said that?" she asks, still struggling to comprehend.

"I didn't give him the chance to say anything at that point," Heller says. "After that I took you home and I applied for a restraining order to keep Jack away. But the next morning, he showed up at 6 AM with a gun threatening to kill me if I didn't let him take you away."

"What?"

"I don't think he was serious about killing me, but it was obvious that he wasn't in his right mind at that point. Who could blame him, after what he'd endured in China not to mention the 24 hours since he got back?"

"So what did you do, have him arrested?"

"No. I didn't have to. I just reasoned with him and tried to get him to calm down. Eventually I took him to your room, and I think when he saw you he realized that I was right, that he was in no condition to take care of you the way you needed."

"Uh huh. What exactly did you say to help him come to that realization?" she demands.

Heller sighs, knowing that by telling her the truth he is probably killing any chance of her ever forgiving him. "I told him that this country owed him a lot for his service, but because of his history and who he was it was inevitable that he'd get back in the game eventually and that you would pay the price...just like his wife did."

If Audrey was surprised before, she is now shell-shocked. She stares at her father, the man she has spent her whole life looking up to, unable to fully believe that he could be so cruel. Eventually, she just walks away, unable to find the words to respond or to look at him any longer. She runs to her bedroom, locks the door and buries her head in the pillow as she begins to sob uncontrollably. Heller stands outside her door looking helpless, hating to see her so upset but knowing there's nothing he can do or say to help the situation right now.

"I don't know which made me angrier - the fact that he was so cruel to you or the fact that he had been lying to me all that time," she says.

Jack hesitates for a moment before speaking. "Audrey, I asked him not to tell you about the things he said when I got back from China," he admits. Audrey looks shocked.

"What?"

"I assume you know your father came to see me the night before the Senate hearing?" Jack asks. Audrey nods.

12 HOURS BEFORE SEASON 7

Jack goes downstairs to the lobby of his hotel and is surprised to see James Heller sitting in a chair waiting for him.

"Mr. Secretary...what are you doing here?" he asks, warily but without overt hostility.

"I came to talk to you," Heller says simply, motioning for Jack to follow him. Jack hesitates, but he wants to know how Audrey is doing, so he reluctantly follows Heller to a table at the hotel restaurant.

"How's Audrey?" he asks as they sit down.

Heller sighs. "Not much change," he says regretfully. "The good news is the tests don't show any permanent brain damage. I have a team of nurses that come and help take care of her but most of the time she's able to do basic things to take care of herself. She walks around, if you put food in front of her she'll sometimes pick at it, and every now and then it feels like she understands what's going on. But she hardly ever speaks, and when she does it's not usually responsive to anything anyone says to her. There was a glimmer of hope back in August, when she felt like she had woken up from a long nightmare and started asking what was real and what was a dream. But I made the mistake of asking her too many questions about what she remembered and she shut down again. We haven't had a real conversation since," he says sadly. Jack looks heartbroken, but then becomes defiant.

"With all due respect, if you came here to remind me that it's all my fault..."

"No, I didn't," Heller says firmly. "To the contrary, I came here to give you a long overdue apology. What happened to Audrey wasn't your fault. The day she came back, I'd spent the last three months believing she was dead, and after seeing what they had done to her..." he trails off, choking up a bit. Jack has never seen his former boss get emotional, and he finds his guard letting down a little.

"I blamed you because it was easier than blaming her for not listening to me or accepting responsibility for my own failure to protect her," Heller continues. "It wasn't fair, and I'm sorry."

Jack nods, taking it all in. "Thank you," he says softly after a moment. "The truth is, if it were my daughter, I probably would have reacted the same way."

"Maybe, but it doesn't make it right." Heller says firmly.

Jack shrugs. "It's nothing I hadn't heard before," he says. "The last time I saw my daughter, she told me I was incapable of hanging onto anything, and she was right. Look at me now," he says bitterly, gesturing to the tracking anklet he has been required to wear since he reluctantly gave himself up and came back from Sangala [in the Redemption prequel].

"Listen, Jack, I talked to some of the members of the Senate committee. I told them I thought making an example of you after everything you've done for this country is a disgrace, and it was clear from my conversations that I'm not the only one who feels that way. Mayer may be out for blood, but you've got a fair amount of support from the minority and even a few members of the majority...Briggs, Dunn and Strom promised me they'd make statements expressing their strong disagreement with Mayer. I would have liked to be there tomorrow, but I don't like to be away from Audrey unless my son or my sister can stay with her, and neither one of them is available tomorrow morning."

Jack looks surprised at the support. "It's alright...I understand. Thank you."

Heller nods. "Who's your lawyer?" he asks.

"I don't have one."

"WHAT?" Heller asks with disbelief. "For Christ sake, Jack, anything you say at the hearing can and undoubtedly will be used in a subsequent criminal case against you."

"I understand that," Jack says shortly, his defenses going up again.

"Then why on earth don't you have a lawyer? If it's a question of cost let me make a few phone calls...I know you're too proud to accept my help but I'm sure the folks at Heritage or Freedom Alliance or any number of organizations would gladly foot your legal bills."

"It's not about the cost," Jack says quickly.

"Then what's it about?"

Jack sighs. "I haven't hesitated to interrogate suspects without a lawyer if I thought it was necessary. I don't think it would be appropriate to turn around and hide behind some lawyer telling me to stonewall. The American people deserve answers to some of these questions."

Heller shakes his head, remembering why he respected Jack so much but at the same time thinking he's crazy.

"Listen, Jack, I admire your convictions...I always have. But I want you to think long and hard about this. Are you really willing to spend the rest of your life in prison?"

"I broke the law," Jack says softly. "I hope that it won't come to that, but I made the decisions I felt had to be made, and I knew the risk I was taking each time."

Heller sighs. "I don't suppose there's anything I can say that's going to change your mind, is there?"

"No, sir," Jack says firmly.

"Alright. Just try not to let Senator Mayer or anyone else get to you. You have nothing to be ashamed of, no matter how hard he might try to make you feel otherwise."

"Thank you," Jack says softly.

Heller nods, giving Jack a supportive thump on the shoulder.

"Mr. Secretary, can I ask you something?" Jack asks.

"Sure, go ahead."

"Have you told Audrey why I left?"

"Not really. She asks about you all the time but she doesn't seem to comprehend the answers...I'm pretty sure she thinks you're still in China. Back in August, when she started responding for a little while, she asked where you were and I tried to duck the question and stall so I could see if I could get a hold of you...but then she shut down again, and then the Senate subpoena was issued and I assumed you didn't want to be found."

Jack nods. "If she asks again, what are you going to tell her?" he asks.

"The truth," Heller replies. "She's going to be angry at me for sure but I'm not going to lie to her."

"The truth is, you basically just helped me reach a conclusion I would have eventually reached on my own," Jack says. "And like you said, she's going to be angry if she knows what you said to me, and she needs you. So please, just tell her I realized I was in no state to take care of her. You owe me that much."

Heller sighs, considering for a moment before nodding reluctantly. "Alright, Jack, if that's what you want."

"It is," Jack says firmly.

Audrey shakes her head angrily. "Why does everyone think I'm this fragile little kid who needs to be lied to and protected?"

"Audrey, I'm sorry," Jack says softly. "I just didn't want to drive a wedge between you and your father."

"I know, it's just..." her voice trails off as she chokes back tears. "All that time I thought you didn't want to see me, that you were angry with me. By the time I found out the truth it was too late."

"What do you mean too late?"

"This all happened the same day you had to disappear," Audrey explains. Jack looks surprised. "The night before, Robert picked me up and we were headed to the Eastern Shore for his mother's 70th birthday party. In the car we were listening to the radio and they were talking about the terror threats in New York and I had a sick feeling in my stomach, because I just knew that somehow you'd be involved in trying to stop it. As we drove I started to panic..."

7:00 PM on the Day of Season 8 (During Episode #4)

Audrey sits in the passenger's seat of Robert's car, staring out the window. On the radio, they are talking about Presidents Taylor and Hassan being evacuated from the UN after the first assassination attempt.

Robert looks over and notices Audrey looking pale. "Are you okay?" he asks. Audrey mumbles something incoherent.

"What?" Robert asks, unable to understand her. He becomes concerned as he notices that she is shaking. He pulls over and stops the car. He reaches over to her, which only gets her more agitated.

"Audrey, what's going on?" he asks anxiously. She continues to shake and mumble. "Alright, just calm down. Everything's going to be okay," he promises. He places a hand on her shoulder but otherwise gives her her space, having learned the hard way the last time he saw her have a flashback. Eventually, she stops shaking and comes back to reality. "Are you okay?" he asks gently.

Audrey nods feebly, looking really embarrassed. "I'm fine, sorry, I just spaced out for a minute," she says apologetically.

"Are you sure?" he asks skeptically.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Let's keep going. Your family's expecting us." Robert hesitates, knowing she's not really okay but also knowing not to push. "Are you sure you're alright?" he asks.

"Yeah. Please, let's just go." Robert nods and starts driving again. A couple minutes later, Audrey once again looks panicked. "I'm sorry...I can't do this," she says suddenly. "I...I have to go home. Just take me to the Rockville metro...that way you should be able to get there in time for the surprise."

"Audrey, I'm not going to just drop you off at a Metro station when you're in this state," he says firmly.

"I'll be fine," she insists. He shakes his head. "If you want to go home I'll drive you home," he insists. "I'll call my sister and have her keep my mom out for a little longer, that's all."

Audrey nods, realizing that it's pointless to argue. "I'm sorry," she says softly.

"Don't worry about it," he says reassuringly. "Look, I know you don't want to tell me about what happened to you, but if you ever do, I just want you to know that I won't judge."

"I know...I just...I guess I'm not ready," she says apologetically.

"He took me home and he wanted to stay to make sure I was okay, but I insisted that I just wanted to be alone. He was so nice and tried so hard to understand, but I knew he never could, and that I would never be able to let him try. And I realized it wasn't fair to him to keep seeing him if I couldn't let him in," Audrey explains. "After he left I just curled up in your brown Stanford sweatshirt and sad in front of the fire watching the news all night. Then Dad came home and that's when he told me the truth about why you left. I went to Union Station and got on the first train I could, but by the time I got to New York you were gone."