Past and Future, Part 10
title: past and future, partX author: callisto24 fandom:24 characters: Jack, Chase, Tony, Curtis, Chloe, Bill... category: drama, m/m slash theme: during and past season5 rating: NC-17 disclaimer: nothing belongs to me, no money made...
* * * * *
Chase awoke, when the afternoon sun shone through the blinds covering the hospital windows. His head hurt painfully and when he tried to move a sigh escaped his lips. His skin burnt on different places and he was clearly injured. Carefully he tried to lift his head, to find out where he was. His insides ached and his shoulder hurt like he ‘ d received a gun shot. And suddenly he remembered. Not clearly... the events mixed up in his mind, whirled around, tumbling through the shadows encircling him. Groaning and cursing he struggled to sit up. He had to succeed. Chase winced with the effort, rolled sideways and swang his legs out of the bed. He breathed heavily, supported his weight with both arms, though his shoulder hurt terribly. He waited for the dizziness to fade away, but the longer he managed to stay in his position, the more the room circled around him. He closed his eyes and searched for hold on the floor. The moment he pushed himself up the wavering around him increased and he clung to the bedframe to prevent himself from losing balance. Nausea overwhelmed him, when he noticed the IV in his arm, when he pulled the needle out and watched absent mindly the blood dropping from the wound, The room seemed to turn like a merry-go-round and Chase tried desperately to remember what he had planned to do. He needed to become clear in his mind, something important needed to be done, and he had to remind himself of a way to get rid of the sedatives probably circling wildly through his system. Chase staggered forward. A phone... he needed to call CTU. Something was going on, he felt it, something dangerous. Groping for hold he moved slowly along the walls, sensing his way through a grey fog. He felt his wounds open again, but didn ‘ t stop. Step by step he made his way.
* * * * * “What are you doing? You ‘re not allowed to be here.” The nurse approached the compact man, looked alarmed around the room, noticing the blood on the floor, the hospital clothes of the stranger not fitting to his shoes, the syringe he held, while staring at the empty bed, and the irritating bulge at his side, possibly able to hide the contures of a weapon. Obviously not the fastest concerning the ability to react, the man turned round and tried to reach the woman, who, observant by the occurrences in hospital and the events of the day immediately started to scream and drew back quickly. The stranger followed her out of the room, but vanished, distracted by the upcoming steps from the outer hallway, into the staircase. “What ‘ s the noise?” The female doctor asked unnerved. “The patient is gone, Dr. White, and someone suspicious and certainly not belonging in here lungered next to his bed.” Makeba threw a searching glance around, waved then to another doctor. “Where is the guard, who should have a look on Mr. Edmunds room? I heard Mr. Almeida ordering protection from outside. A responsible patient like him certainly don ‘ t wants to get fooled.” “Thought I had seen him five minutes ago,” the man answered, wondering once more about how much this beautiful woman cared for her patients. Her unusual behaviour and insistance on accepting each case no matter how hopeless or unsuccessful it promised to be, had provided her a special reputation. And though some rumours about her past still existed, her connections to a few former and current federal agents, who honoured her discretion and competence had allowed her a secure place in this institution. And now she seemed to be sincerely worried about the reaction of one of her favorite patients, who signed responsible for the admission of a former collegue. The doctor remembered Mr. Almeida calling in, checking out if the room of Mr. Edmunds was secured properly - announcing his visit for the next day. Only that - until now - he hadn ‘ t appeared - maybe no wonder, considering what has happened today. The doctor shook his head. The world went crazy, instead of fighting pain and diseases, people wouldn ‘ t become tired of killing their own kind. He opened the chamber for medical supplies and yelped in shock, when he nearly stumbled over Mr. Edmunds security guard. “Makeba!” he called, not recognizing his own voice for its shrill subtone. “We need help here.”
* * * * *
Chases world grew darker, but he still moved on, determined to reach his aim. Finally he felt the wall make a curve, the place widened and his hoped increased, when he met a large subject right in front of him. Doubting, if his fantasy played tricks on him, he fumbled to find the receiver, pushed trembling buttons. “I need a connection to CTU, L.A. . It ‘ s important, very important, I ‘m... I ‘ m a federal agent with informations... ” It clicked and cracked in the line until a voice could be heard. “Sorry Sir. Can ‘ t help you now. Try it again, later... .” “Impossible! Can ‘ t wait. Give me Almeida then... .” Chase wanted to add the number, when the blow hit him hard. He reached for the phone, tried to hold himself up, when a rough hand pressed his mouth shut, when he felt shoved hard against the wall, sensed the air violently squeezed out of his lungs. The cold metal bored into his back and Chase strangely somehow admired the consequent behaviour of these people, ready to start a massacre in the middle of a hospital, before he thankfully sank into oblivion.
* * * * *
Jack didn ‘ t move. He stood, motionless, freezed, numb. The horror of what had happened, had catapulted his mind out of his body, untied his thoughts, his feelings, which flew around him freely, unable for him to reach them, unable to remember why they screamed in panic. He stood there, quietly, a slight twitch of his left hand the only sign of life, his life he still was damned to live, though it had been destroyed only a moment ago.
Tonys last words had mentioned Michelle, his last thoughts been with his wife, but Jack had been the one who had held him during this endless seconds, who had shed his own hot tears over the adored, dead body, whose heart had been broken with the sight of his lovers pain, who had died inside, when he had been forced to watch the love of his life fade away. He had held him tight, refused to give up his grip, when the medics had arrived, seen nothing of his surroundings, heard no sound, felt his own life drain, when his insides grew cold as ice, when his body stiffened, when he slowly stopped the gentle rocking of the friend, who had left him alone once and for all. Carefully they had removed him from the place Tony had died, helped him to stand up, taken over, leaving him behind, helpless, useless. And he reacted how he had to, did what they expected, stepped out of the way, watched them silently, felt his insides turn, sensed his soul rise up into the air, crying, shouting, screaming, losing it, while he had to remain on the ground, in this room, in reality, on earth.
He stayed in his frozen state, used it to close up, to shut his emotions away, drive them into a dimension far away from his, until the time would be right to deal with them, like he had been trained to years ago. He stepped back from the horror, from the inbearable ache, didn ‘ t accept it, didn ‘ t believe it, couldn ‘ t believe it, even when he saw them covering and carrying Tony away from him. And finally he allowed himself only one, single thought. Henderson! The man was dead, now. Sooner or later he would kill him and he would make him suffer. Tony had seeked revenge for Michelle, but he would find it. For Palmer, for her, for Tony and him, and more than that, for the love, they ‘ d shared. There was no room for desparation or for giving up. He would punish Christopher without any mercy for everything, the man had done.
* * * * *
A pointed kick pushed the gun out of the hand of the attacking stranger. “Verdammt,” he cursed aloud, when he turned around, stumbled over something preventing him from stepping forward, while a second kick against his shin-bone made him yelp in pain. Sooner, than he could cope, he laid on the ground, two pointed knees ramming into his back. “Mistkerl,” he groaned, when he made desperate, useless efforts to get up. “Stay where you are! Otherwise I ‘ ll inject you enough to turn you into a drooling, whining piece of shit for the rest of your miserable life!” “Dr. White?” “Take him to police, CTU... whatever... . He attacked a patient.” The doctor nodded to the security men and glanced admiringly at the woman. “What?” She asked him annoyed. “Don ‘ t you think that dealing with all kind of drug addicts for years would recommend a Black woman to practice self-defence?” “S-sure, doctor.” “Then move... .Mr. Edmunds needs help, and as far as I know him, we won ‘ t be able to keep him here as soon, as he will open his eyes again. So take care, that this won ‘ t happen again as long as he ‘ s in this weakened state.” She sighed and rubbed her left knee, before raising straight up. Actually she had decided to stop these kind of adventures when she had started with this job. Her husband wouldn ‘ t be glad to find her red and blue from attacking a criminal twice as tall as she was. Maybe he was right and she became to old for this kind of work. Time to call Tony, she would be very astonished if the whole mess wouldn ‘ t have been caused in the middle of CTU again.
* * * * * Chase opened his eyes and looked around confused. Strangely the headache and the dizziness had been gone. He tried to sit up, when he discovered Dr.White standing near the window. “Wha... what happened?” he asked, struggling to put the puzzle pieces of the past events in his head together. Makeba sat down next to him, taking his hand into hers. “I hoped you could tell me,” she said, studying him with big black eyes. For a moment he glanced at her in confusion, before he immediately pulled back, throwing a scared look around, trembling when the memories urged to overwhelm him. He shook his head to clear his mind and then looked up at her in shock. “I have to talk to CTU,” he called suddenly. “Need to get up.” Dr. White nodded. “I thought you would insist on it. I stabilized you, but when you finished your report, you have to come back here at once. There are a lot of things we still have to talk about.” Chase pulled himself up. “Can you order a car, please?” “Mr. Buchanan promised to send a helicopter as soon as you are ready to leave.” “Have you heard anything about Jack... ? Jack Bauer?” Makeba stared at him before she answered carefully. “I thought he had been killed... you have told me about the funeral... .” She scrutinized him attentively. “A lot of things had happened. My advice is to take care of your body at first, and then give your soul time to heal. Should I call someone for you, your cousin maybe.” “No...,” Chase reacted a little too fast, causing her to raise one eyebrow sceptically. “Need to go now.” Making sure the conversation had been ended he managed to sit up, swinging one leg out of the bed, fumbling with his IV. “Wait a minute, Chase!” Dr. White smiled. “Let me do it for once.”
* * * * * Chase stormed into CTU as fast as he was capable to move. “Is it true?” He called, when he noticed Bill in conversation with a woman of his age. “David Palmer is dead?” “Chase!” Chloe looked up from her computer. “My God, you shouldn ‘ t be here. You look awful.” “I ‘ m fine.” His gaze changed between Chloe and Bill. “Is it true?” “Is what true?” “Palmer had been shot yesterday, you heard right...,” Bill spoke first. “And... Jack.... ?” “What do you mean with... Jack?” “He isn ‘ t dead, is he?” Chloe squirmed uncomfortably. “What have you heard?” Bill finally asked him. “I... I ‘ ll tell you everything... later, at first I have to know where he is... I have to see him.” “Chase... you can ‘ t.” The young man shook in anger, near losing his self-control. “Don ‘ t tell me what I can and what I can ‘ t, Chloe! He lied to me... you all lied to me! He isn ‘ t dead and I have a right to know why he did this to me... or to Kim. She hadn ‘ t known... she... or had she?” He shivered suddenly, coldness overflew his exhausted body. “She can ‘ t have known...,” he whispered, leaning against the next table. “No, Chase, she hadn ‘ t known, neither had I.” Bill laid a hand on the trembling mans shoulder and directed him gently on a seat near by. “Very few people had known. And watching your condition, I suppose, that you ‘ ll return as soon as possible to hospital. There are just some question I have to ask you, about your undercover work here. What we had heard until now still makes not much sense.” Chase rubbed his forehead with a tired movement. “Most facts should be available in New York, ask Mr. Woodside. I reported to him regularly.” “Yes.” Bill seeked Karens eyes. “We found out, that Tony already contacted him, the problem is just... .” “The problem is... he ‘ s dead,” Karen went on. “Found yesterday morning in his office, the files gone or destroyed.” Chase looked up at her, sucked the air in, close to panicking. “Then he had known... he knows everything. He wanted... he planned to... .” He coughed, fought again for air, felt like choking, when he gripped the table for hold. “Tony?” He croaked and looked up. “Tony knows... he knows him... where is he?” Chase looked around frantically. “Is he with Jack? They aren ‘ t safe. He will be after them.” “Who, Chase? Who are you talking about,” Bill asked patiently, leaning forward. Chase avoided the older mans gaze, looked down quickly, adding in a husky voice. “Connors... Tony knows.” He waited, but when no one answered his confused eyes searched for Chloes, who bit nervously her lower lip. “Chase..., “ Bill finally spoke. “We are dependant on what you can tell us. Tony and Michelle are dead. We need to know your role in this.” Chase went pale. “Tony is... . That ‘ s not true. I won ‘ t believe... . How should he... ?” “Christopher Henderson... a lot of bad things happened this day.” The young mans features became white as a sheat. “Jack... !” He managed to croak. “You hadn ‘ t answered my question... .” He looked from one to another. “He isn ‘ t dead,” he pleaded. “Please tell me, that he isn ‘ t dead... .” Bill glanced at the trembling figure sympathetically, sensing the younger mans distress. Finally he decided to speak the truth. “We don ‘ t know, Chase. We ‘ re searching him since yesterday.” He sighed. “Indications intensify, that he had been kidnapped, taken to China, at least it seems to be the most plausible explanation.” “But... but he isn ‘ t dead.” Bill scrutinized him carefully. “As far as we know, he isn ‘ t. But you know, what he is trained to do in such a situation.” “I know.” Chase searched for hold at the desk, before he stood up, swaying. “He won ‘ t do it. I ‘ ll find him first.” “Chase!” The young agent staggered forward, froze and shook violently. Chloes eyes grew wide in shock, when suddenly, without a warning Chases knees gave way and he fell forward, hitting the ground hard.
* * * * *
He stared into the darkness, alone for days now. At least he supposed it had been days, no way to establish the time, streaming past his numb body, carrying away his wounded soul again and again until he suddenly woke up, finding himself in the same place, the same pain, screaming for a release, that won ‘ t come. Instead he still laid on the rough ground, broken inside as well as outside, waiting for nothing, nothing more. And that was what he wanted - nothing. As soon as the nothingness threatened to fade away, he felt the longing, the desire for his touch and his heart never stopped bleeding. He concentrated on the humiliation, the different efforts to force him to speak, the physical hardships and violations, but it wasn ‘ t enough, couldn ‘ t be enough, never.more. What he had lost, couldn ‘ t be replaced and the knowledge killed him constantly, ate him up from inside. So he waited for them to take him outside of his dark box, to ask him the same questions again and again, well knowing that he wouldn ‘ t answer them. He had lost grip on the time he already had spent in this place and he didn’t care. The dreams were the worst. At night they came regularly, when finally sleep took over his exhausted, hurting body. He saw Tonys face again in front of him, sometimes sad, sometimes peaceful and sometimes angry. And he yelled in sleep for him. He knew it, because the guards had told him, loved to make their jokes about the stupid American, who refused to talk all day, but started to scream at night. They didn ‘ t know, that he relived each second in slow motion, each painful moment of Tonys passing away, again and again, and each time in a different manner. Sometimes he simply watched it happening, without being able to make a move, then he saw himself running faster, fighting, shooting, killing Henderson a thousand times before he could take his love away from him. But despite all his efforts, no matter what he did, how fast he was, he failed each night again, came to late, was forced to see his friend die. And each night he awoke crying, bathed in sweat, the pain inside overcoming each effort to make him break and still growing stronger night by night. During the endless days the memories haunted him, thoughts tormented him of the countless possibilities he had owned to avoid what had happened. If he only had... . He was guilty, guilty of more crimes, he could count, had made more faults than a person should be allowed to in one life. More and more his past moved to the surface, he was reminded on what had happened like ages ago, so he felt, and what he had hoped to be gone and forgotten forever. And he was too tired to fight against the thoughts, too tired to put up resistance like he had learned it, like he had already done before. It made no sense to him anymore. He wasn ‘ t able to notice the changing behaviour, the slight attempts of some guards, who provided him with some food, who cared for his wounds or looked after him, when he became sick. It didn’ t matter anymore, he had enough. He only waited for it to end and he hoped the end would come soon. * * * * *
“You ‘ re not supposed to leave us now,” the doctor mentioned reproachfully. “You ‘ re body just starts to heal and your soul might take a little longer.” “Let me take care of my soul,” Chase answered harshly. “Though I doubt, that anything like this exists. And I can deal with my recovery alone. I ‘ ll sign everything you ‘ ll give to me, just do it.” The other man regarded him sceptically. “You know my objections. I can ‘ t express them more seriously, but at last I have no say in this.” Chase nodded at him, eager to escape this building. He had never been the patient kind of guy and waiting in a hospital bed, driving away the dark memories constantly, certainly wasn ‘ t helping. Whatever he would decide to do, it had to happen fast, he needed his mind and his body to be occupied.
* * * * * “We have a lot of work to do, Chase. You can ‘ t imagine what ‘ s going on.” “That ‘s why I ‘m here. Wanna do my part.” “No, you don ‘ t.” Chloe ranted, became seriously upset. “You want to know what happened to Jack, you don ‘ t care about anything else.” “That ‘ s not true. I do care.” Chloe looked at him, mockingly. “I don ‘ t have time for this. Listen Chase... we all want to find him, but the situation at CTU is more than difficult these days and... .” “Anything wrong, Chloe?” She shook her head, clearly annoyed. “Stay away, Morris! Leave me alone... everybody... just leave me alone! Need to work.” Abruptly she turned to her keyboard, immediately slipping into her virtual world. “And you are?” Morris adressed the younger man. “Chase Edmunds.” Morris raised his eyebrows. “Hadn ‘ t you already been debriefed?” He looked at him curiously. “You discovered the connection between Henderson and Connors, right? We ‘ ll capture the bastard soon enough. Sorry about what he did to your people in New York and... .” He paused suddenly, blushing slightly. “Happened a lot this day. How are you now?” Chase watched him, trying to hide his embarrassement, unable to think about a satisfying answer to his question, when a voice called him. “Chase?” Bill entered the room, handed some files to Audrey who made an effort to give him a small smile in response before she returned to her desk. “Glad, you ‘ re still with us. We have some suspects here for interrogation and one of them is mentioning your name, repeatedly. He ‘ s arrested for days now. Seems to know something about Jack too.” Chases mouth became dry. “Where is he?” Bill nodded to Curtis, who had shown up a moment ago. “Agent Manning will take you there.” Chase winced with the effort to keep up with the taller man, until Curtis slowed the pace and regarded him examining. “Everything alright with you, Agent Edmunds?” “Yes, I ‘ m okay,” Chase hurried to declare. “Who ‘ s the suspect?” Curtis shrugged. “We discovered a lot of disturbing details, when we followed the different traces. Though we just started to clean up the mess. Left alone in L.A. we found more than two hundred men involved in Connors actions, and most of them had no idea about what they were really doing. This guy seemed to be as confused as the others, who obviously were supposed to give their life during the attacks. But then he mentioned yours and Jacks name... .” He stopped in front of a secured door. “Here we are.” Curtis typed in his security code, before he let Chase step into the locked room. Behind a grey table the suspect stared at the two men with wide eyes. Chase lips moved tonelessly, formed a name without a sound escaping them. “Thought you were dead,” he managed to croak finally. “He ordered you to be killed. And... and I heard the shots... .” Andrew lowered his gaze, slowly shaking his head, before he answered. “Henderson faked my death. He ‘s been upset, very upset. And angry. Wanted to annoy Connors, to ignore his orders, even with sparing my life, though he had no idea what to do with me.” “What happened?” Chases voice trembled. He wasn ‘ t ready to rely on his senses, wasn ‘ t ready to believe what he saw. Andrew seemed to be better prepared, when he finally raised his head and met the other ones confused eyes. “I ‘ m not sure, that you ‘ re really interested.” “Wha... what do you mean?” Andrew smirked. “Well, an Undercover Agent certainly has other things in his mind than listening to a story by a stupid guy from the north, who is too blind to see what ‘ s in front of his eyes.” Chase opened his mouth, but the answer sticked in his throat. Curtis watched the two men impatiently before he intervened. “This reunion warms up my heart, but at first a few questions necessary.” He switched on the tape, nodded to the invisible man behind the mirror, before he sat down opposite to Andrew, shoving a second chair into Chases direction. “Got it so far, that you worked together in N.Y., moved to L.A. in Connors service. Mr. Edmunds was supposed to execute Christopher Henderson, an assignement Andrew here was oblivious to, as to the fact, that Chase had been working undercover.” His eyes met Chases. “I wonder why you hadn ‘ t tried to get in touch with CTU before. Nobody knew, until you had contacted Tony.” “My instructions had been clear.” Chase found himself defending, feeling sudden anger arise. “I can tell you, that the last thing I wanted to do was returning to this city. It had been an opportunity Mr. Woodside refused to waste. I had to swear to stay calm, to observe and to inform him about everything concerning the organization. It would have been more than stupid to do anything, that could have been connected to my past life.” “I see,” Curtis responded. “And you had no intentions to murder Henderson?” “I ‘ m no killer, Mr. Manning. I pretended to be one.” Curtis nodded. “I ‘ m sorry, Chase. We need to be sure. There still are obscurities we have to deal with.” “I ‘ ve already told, what I know. It should be more important to find Connors... or Jack.” Curtis sighed. “I agree with you. But to be able to do so, we have to make sense of what had happened.” He turned to Andrew. “Connors left with Agent Edmunds and Henderson feigned your murder only to annoy his boss?” Andrew looked him straight into his eyes. “Guess you know that feeling.” “Should I tell you again, what will happen to you, if you don ‘ t cooperate?” “Andrew... ,” Chase interrupted them. “Please, tell him. It ‘ s important to learn each detail.” “Probably,” Andrew said, directing his attention on Chase again. “But can you tell me, why I don ‘ t feel comfortable with opening up to a total stranger, who ‘ s trying to threaten me after all?” “Then tell me.” “Yes,” Andrew snorted. “Nothing easier, than trusting the man, who had lied and betrayed me from the first moment I ‘ ve seen him. And who has more to hide, than his decent collegues would ever presume.” “What is he talking about?” Curtis adressed Chase, who only shook his head in response. Andrew stared at him testing, before he answered. “Nothing of interest.” He turned back to Curtis and shrugged. “Personal stuff. You don ‘ t want to know.” “I will decide what’s interesting for us, got it?” Andrew rolled his eyes and looked back to Chase, who took the offered chair at last and sat down, searching for Andrews gaze, who met his before he spoke again. “Henderson thought, that Connors tried to get rid of him, that he had known from Simons plan to send a killer, possibly had ordered the murder himself. He made a lot of phone calls, sounded as if he had no real clue about what to do next, ranted about the organization and Connors, before he remembered my presence.” Andrews fingers tapped on the desk, when he finished his story. “The bastard examined me, asked me about this Jack, I ‘ d never heard of before and about your role in the game. As you know, I couldn ‘ t tell him much. When he noticed my confusion, he told me some weird stuff and his men cuffed me and locked me in the basement, where I was found by your people. If I got it right, he decided not to kill me in case you would be able to escape and he might need something to put you under pressure, though he doubted, that you would survive Connors treatment.” For the first time Andrews features showed a slight indication of worry, when he studied Chases face. “We have to know everything about these phone calls, names, hints, no matter how unimportant it seems to you,” Curtis said finally. Andrew let out his breath audibly. “I ‘ ve already told you... more than once.” “And you will tell it again, as long as we ‘ re asking you for it. Maybe the presence of Mr. Edmunds here will improve your abilities to remember.” “I repeat - I told you everything.” Andrew showed signs of losing his temper. With a groan he leant back and folded his arms across his chest, throwing a long meaningful glance at Chase, before he adressed Curtis once more, watching him deliberately before he spoke. “On the other hand... maybe I could imagine a kind of deal... .” “”What kind of deal?” Chase questioned him sharply. “What are you talking about?” “Calm down, Chase.” Andrew smiled. “Remember my family? I know, that I ‘ m in trouble, but I want to make sure, that they don ‘ t have to suffer from the mistakes I made.” Chase looked at Curtis. “He ‘ s right. We should protect them, at least for a while.” “No! That ‘ s not enough,” Andrew demanded. “I want them to be able to start a new life, with new names in another part of the country. You ‘ ll have to promise me that.” Curtis nodded slightly. “Can ‘ t decide this alone, but there shouldn ‘ t be a problem.” Chase adressed the other agent. “Might it be possible for him to join them... I mean... .” Andrew emitted a bitter chuckle. “That ‘ s really nice, Mr. Agent. How should I thank you.” He threw a scornful gaze at him. “It ‘ s just a fact, that I don ‘ t wanna join them. They ‘ ll be better without me.” “Andrew!” “Shut up, Chuck or however you want to be called today. Maybe you hadn ‘ t noticed, that I ‘ m not the family type of man. Believe me, I had time to think about my life, more time, than necessary to discover what I am... who I am. Standing face to face with death reduces some problems until you know what ‘ s really important.” He sighed and rubbed his shoulder nervously. “I want a chance for my wife and my kids, that ‘ s all.” Curtis scratched his temple. “We ‘ ll see.” Andrew scrutinized him closely. “One thing left... .” He nodded to Chase. “Wanna talk to him, alone!” “No way!” Curtis shook his head. “Private talk, nothing else!” “You two will be able to make conversation for months as soon as we are finished here, but at first we need any information hidden in your head.” Chase closed his eyes. “It ‘ s okay, Andrew. You can say here whatever you want to say. I understand your anger... and I ‘ m sick of keeping secrets.” Andrew raised his eyebrows. “Well, at least that should be a progress, I think. But I won ‘ t try to embarrass you in front of your collegues. There are just a few things I wanna know and things I wanna tell you.” Chase caught a short sparkling in the deep black eyes. “Alright with me.” Curtis stood up, making a sign to the mirror. “Keep the tape running,” he told Chase. “Everything has to be on record. I ‘ ll organize the formalities with Buchanan.” When he had left the room both men stared at the quietly humming recorder. Finally Chase broke the silence. “So... what do you wanna tell me?” His voice sounded hoarsely to himself and he cleared his throat before searching Andrews eyes again. Dark pools met his green gaze and Chase felt his face reddening. Hesitating he added: “Believe me please, I ‘ m really glad, that you ‘ re alive. It was ... I had no idea how much I would miss you.” Andrews features took a sceptical expression. “I would love to hear these words from you, but how should I be able to believe anything you ‘ re saying. You guys turn lying into an art or at least a profession as far as I ‘ m concerned until now... and I fear things might be far worse. One day you ‘ ll be like this Henderson guy and I don ‘ t think you will like it.” Chase tried to avoid the boring stare by looking down on his hands, before he finally whispered. “This is my life. You can ‘ t imagine what it demands... from all of us.” He paused a moment. “I can ‘ t tell you how sorry I am about what happened to you or that I used your friendship, though I knew, what it meant to you.” “You don ‘ t have to be sorry... . My life has been a mess for a long time, long before I met you. Somehow it ‘ s interesting to discover new sorts of depths.” Andrew smirked again. “It has been harder to deal with the thought, that you couldn ‘ t trust me, despite everything we shared. I mean... I ‘ ve opened up completely to you and I thought that you would be able to... at least one day... and this is it, what hurts... .” They looked at each other for what seemed to be an eternity, before Chase bent his head furthermore, stared motionlessly on the table.
“You have your deal!” Curtis entered the room in a hurry. “Time to talk. I expect you to dig deep in your memory.” “I ‘ ll do my very best.” Andrew managed a contemptuous grin at the tall man. “Like I ‘ m doing all the time.” Curtis only glanced at him until Andrew chuckled. “It ‘ s true, I ‘ ve already told you what I know. But I will be nice and tell you the weird stuff I couldn ‘ t make sense of and therefore can ‘ t remember really.” He turned his gaze back to Chase. “This Henderson guy definitely went nuts, after you had left. The whole Jack Bauer stuff made him rant constantly. He telephoned around trying to find out if the guy was dead or whatever.” Andrew shook his head amused, his eyes still on Chase. “Their relationship seemed to be kind of disturbing.” Casually he shrugged. “Henderson called at least three people in Washington, who obviously hadn ‘ t the answers to satisfy him completely. No names were mentioned, but I presume them involved in political issues. The answers he ‘d received left him clearly unsatisfied and he paced through the room, making everyone nervous, until some people in suits showed up, talking with him in a language I couldn ‘ t understand. But I heard him and them mentioning the names of President Palmer, Jack Bauer and CTU repeatedly.” “Which people?” Curtis asked. Andrew shrugged. “Probably from Asia, but I don ‘ t know, and I really don ‘ t know, what they were talking about. Henderson said something about Connors, but they had no idea or weren ‘ t interested. I got the impression, that they ‘ d noticed, amazingly quick., on which topic Henderson did research and expected him to tell them his results.” “But he had none.” Andrew shook his head. “I think, he told them he still believed Jack Bauer dead, but I can tell you, the guys looked alarmed.” Curtis looked at Chase. “Makes sense to us. They were prepared to capture and transport him out of the country. Only had to wait for the right moment.” “That ‘ s all. I told you, I don ‘ t know anything of importance.” “Don ‘ t worry about this. We have a chance to find out, who these people were and in which exact connection they stood to Henderson.” Curtis remained quiet for a moment. “You understand that we have to make sure, that you told us everything.” He directed his sharp glance at Chase. “And we have to interrogate you again. What we learned from your friend might bring back a memory or make you draw a conclusion, you hadn ‘ t thought of before.” Chase sighed. “I understand, but I don ‘ t know what else I should tell you. I believed Jack dead, I... I mourned his death and had no contact to him, not a word, no hint, so suspicion from my part.” Curtis stood up. “We ‘ ll talk about this later. You come with me now and we ‘ ll inform Buchanan at first.” “Curtis!” The tall man stopped in front of the exit door, while Chase slowly followed his example. “I want to be involved. I want to find Jack. He... we were partners.” “I know,” Curtis answered. “But I can ‘ t promise you anything. The affair is delicate and has to be handled very carefully. Our government can ‘ t afford any more embarrassement, especially the relationships to some countries won ‘ t tolerate the slightest trouble.” “You think, nobody will care about Jacks release.” “I think, you shouldn ‘ t expect too much.” “As if anyone would wonder,” Andrew snorted suddenly. “Shut up, man.” Curtis turned to him angrily. “You have no idea what this is about.” He ordered Chase to leave the room first, who threw a last glance at Andrew, who wore a sad grin on his face and met his eyes for a moment. Then he was outside, watching Curtis securing the door again. “What will happen to him?” he asked. “Don ‘ t know. We ‘ ll take care for his wife and kids and probably it will be the best for them to stay away from the man. We have no trace on Connors and we can rely on the fact, that he sooner or later will look for everyone who talked too much.” Curtis looked at Chase. “Another reason why you should think very well about your future plans. This guy has a memory like an elephant, and as far as I understand his actions until now, seeking revenge is one of his favorite hobbies.” “I ‘ m not afraid. When the bastard comes close to me again, he will be dead in less than a second.” Curtis smiled at him. “Don ‘ t say it loud, but I guess nobody would be sorry.”
* * * * * “Come in!” Chase turned the key in the lock of the small apartment and waved Andrew inside. The other man followed him hesitantly. “Thanks for letting me stay here over night.” Chase looked at him before he answered. “I feel responsible. Without me you still would have your life in New York.” Andrew glanced at him. “Who knows? Our fate doesn ‘t lie in our hands, no matter how strong we believe in it.” “I won ‘ t anybody or anything allow to rule my life. Never! Nobody has the right to influence my decisions.” “Are you sure in this?” Chases head shot up. “What do you mean,” he asked annoyed. Slowly and deliberately Andrew formed his next words. “I mean, that there is a person who is deciding your fate.” He paused a moment. “Though you don ‘ t notice, don ‘ t want him to have this kind of power over you..., and from what I know about his behaviour he don ‘ t want it either.” “That ‘ s enough, Andrew.” “No! I need to say this and probably I ‘ ve not much to lose anymore.” Chase ignored him, hurrying to the small kitchen, where he filled a glass with water at the sink and emptied it quickly. Then he leant back against the table, watching the other man quietly. “Say what you wanna say and we ‘ re through with the topic.” Andrew bent his head, scratched his temple and considered the following words. “As long as I know you, you seem to be haunted by an invisible, untouchable shadow. The shadow of the man, you said you had loved and whose death had destroyed your life. You might not be aware of it, but whatever you did, you did for him. You ran away, tried to distract yourself from the pain of your loss in each possible way, walked in his footsteps as far as you could. And now you know that he is... that he might be alive, you can ‘ t tell me, that you won ‘ t do anything to find him.” He looked up, searched for Chases eyes. “I know you Chase, maybe better than you know yourself. And I feel sorry for you and for him. Right in this moment I can ‘ t see a future, not for you as long as you cling to this memory, and not for him.” “It ‘ s not your business,” Chase whispered hoarsely, still banned by the dark glance. “I never told you about him... or us. You don ‘ t know what happened between us.” “I ‘ m keeping my eyes and ears open, Chase. Maybe I know more than you would expect.” Chase turned to the sink, propped his hands on the edge. “I ‘ m through with talking,” he said finally. “It ‘ s late. I ‘ ll go to sleep. You can tell me tomorrow, where you want to go from here.” “Fine.” The silent voice approached his ears. “Whatever you want.” Chase sighed and bent his head even lover, pulling up his shoulders in unconscious protection. He listened to the low steps behind him, couldn ‘ t suppress a shudder when he felt them come nearer. Though prepared he winced, when he sensed Andrews hands on his shoulders, quickly escaping the touch, taking a few steps away from him before he turned around. Andrew startled and drew himself back watching Chase alarmed. “You ‘ re alright?” “I ‘ m okay. Just... need some space... .” “Chase?” “I ‘ m fine.” “You don ‘ t seem to be.” Andrew hesitated a moment before he spoke again. “It ‘ s Connors. Am I right?” “I don ‘ t know what you ‘ re talking about.” Andrew lowered his gaze, stared on his feet. “I ‘ ve heard a lot of things... . Hendersonsons men talked, people in prison talked... your CTU collegues asked a lot of weird things... . It wasn ‘ t difficult to draw some conclusions, to... to recognize how awfully I ‘ ve been mistaken.” He swallowed hard. “I trusted him, his aims, his cause... now there ‘ s nothing left I can trust. And... and... ,” he looked up. “And I know what he ‘ s capable of.” “Good for you,” Chase responded quickly. “Yes!” Andrew stared at him doubtfully.” “So... do you wanna talk about it?” “There is nothing to talk about. I ‘ ve been injured and beaten up... . Not for the first time... nothing new... part of the job.” “Right.” Andrew scrutinized him carefully, before he decided to step closer, noticing Chase wince again. “You can’t tell me, it ‘ s okay.” “Nothing is.” Chase answered huskily and turned round again to avoid the gaze. Andrew waited, watched the lean back shivering, tensing, trying to build up a frontiere, to fight the memories. He reached out carefully, tenderly touched the arms, supported on the edges of the sink, sensed Chases tension increase, before he suddenly, quickly did some steps away from him. Andrew stood still for a moment, unsure about what to do next, before he started to look around, searching for a place, where he could settle down comfortably. At last he sank into the couch, stretching out his legs with a sigh, clearly ignoring Chases distress, who slowly relaxed in reaction. He moved to the cupboard, providing them with glasses and a bottle of bourbon, before he sat down opposite to the other man. “Need a drink, before sleep,” he offered. Andrew nodded. “I ‘ d like that.” They stayed quiet for a while, took a swig from time to time, waited patiently for the drink warming them up from the inside. Andrews gaze clung on Chase, who was staring out of the window, while his thoughts obiously were wandering elsewhere. He cleared his throat, fumbled with his smooth glass, noticed the other mans attention return slowly. “I ‘ ve heard a lot of things about Jack including the fact, that he ‘ s probably imprisoned somewhere.” Andrew caught the glimpse of pain flickering in Chases eyes with his words and looked down on his drink. “You remember, I told you about Henderson behaving strange, when he was confronted with the possibility, that Bauer ‘ s still alive.” “He had been his mentor, had brought him to CTU, taught him everything.” Andrew shrugged. “I ’ m not doubting it.” He sighed. Chase stirred and looked at the other man awkwardly. “If you want to tell me something, than do it, for God’s sake.” Andrew squirmed uncomfortably, took another gulp. “I only wanted to say, that you ‘ re not the only one.... that you ‘ re not alone in this experience. In fact, I have reason to believe, that even your friend Jack had been going through some tough stuff.” “I know,” Chase answered hoarsely. “As I ‘ ve already told you, it ‘s the job... there are dangers existing you can ‘ t escape.” “Maybe not,” Andrew considered and took a deep breath. “ But to me it sounded right like this Henderson did the mentor thing, after or because he practically had picked young Jack up from the streets, started a pretty unfair relationship, at least if you think, that an older man shouldn ‘ t exploit a teenager this way, and when he had had enough or Jack become too ‘adult’ for him, he had pushed him into some military service, navy seals or whatever... .” Chase stared at him, wide - eyed. “What a complete nonsense you ‘ re trying here to tell me? At first someone would know... and then his files are telling different... ” Andrew shrugged. “Just thought, that a man in Hendersons position would have had no difficulties to change some dates or a persons background. Isn ‘ t that, what you guys are always doing?” Chase shook his head annoyed. “Bullshit,” he mumbled, while Andrew took another gulp from his glass. “Only wanted to state... to make clear, that you can overcome this, that you don ‘ t need to hide or to feel ashamed.” “Brilliant, Andrew. Thank you very much. You ‘ re telling me, that Jack is hiding his past for a lifetime, but I don ‘ t need to or shouldn ‘ t... or what... ?” Andrew groaned miserably. “I don ‘ t know, what I wanted to tell you... I only... maybe... I wanted to help you somehow.” “Well, you weren ‘ t helping!” Chase stood up determined. “I ‘ m going to sleep now. I will take the couch, bedroom is over there.” He pointed to the left side. “Chase!” “What?” Chase growled. “You ‘ ll find blankets and what you might need in there... .” “Chase... I ‘ m sorry. I shouldn ‘ t have... .” “Forget about it!” Chase emptied his glass and stood up, took Andrews and the bottle as well, placing them with an audible sound near the kitchen sink. He turned round and jumped, shocked by the sudden closeness between them, for Andrew silently had closed the distance until Chase could feel his warm breath in his face. The taller man looked down on him with dark, bottomless eyes, concern and care clearly visible in the handsome features. Chase panted, desperately trying to defeat his arising panic, to show no weakness. “Out... of... my... way,” he managed to croak, constantly fighting the irresistable urge to run away as fast as possible. “Go... or... I ‘ ll hurt you,” he threatened, his green gaze flickering, not able to bear the other mans eyes on him.” “I won ‘ t say it again,” he added, struggling to appear firm. “Then you ‘ ll have to hurt me,” Andrew answered, not drawing back. “I won ‘ t leave you alone with this. I know, what it can do to a man.” “That ‘ s enough,” Chase barked and lashed out. “I told you... I don ‘ t wanna hear... .” He hit Andrew with unexpected force against the chin, who stumbled backwards, searching for balance, when a second stroke met his nose, which started to bleed at once. Chase training skills left the other man no chance and he soon had Andrew lying on the ground, who protected his face with his hands, when the blows rained down on him. “Stop it... stop it.... it ‘ s enough... ,” Chase screamed furiously, not noticing in his anger, that Andrew wasn ‘ t even trying to defend himself. “Don ‘ t... want ... to... think.... or ... talk.... .” Chase cried, hot tears streaming down his cheeks. “Don ‘ t... .” Suddenly disturbed he stopped the beating, staring down on the defenseless body beneath. “I... I.... .” The rage transformed immediately into fear, emanating from the lean figure, while he stayed motionless for a short moment, noticing the blood his violent outbreak had caused to flow freely down his former lovers handsome face. Panicing he jumped up, took some steps away, looking at the other man in disbelief of what he ‘ d done. Andrew sat up with some effort, holding his aching side, making attempts to still the bloodflow coming from his nose. “I... I ‘ m sorry, ... I didn ‘ t want to... .” “I know,” Andrew nodded silently, before he tried to stand up. “I know, why you have done it.” He staggered back to the couch, while Chase watched him in horror. “Maybe this was helping.”