24 Fan Fiction

Stuck in the Middle

Description: As Jack Bauer mends his relationship with his daughter, Kim, he must take CTU’s newest agent under his wing. However, a plot to destroy CTU and kill thousands lies right under their nose. Can the new agent shed some light on it?
This story was written by doom357
www.fanfiction.net/l/1404/3/6/1/1/0/0/0/0/0/1/
XXXXX
The following takes place between 10:00 A.M. and 11:00 A.M.
Jack Bauer, former Delta Force operative now back to being Director of Field Operations at Los Angeles CTU, kept a regular routine: up at six followed by a morning run, shower, and breakfast and in his office ten before eight; usually. Even on days like today where he had a few hours off in the mornings he was still in by a quarter to ten. Today traffic was bad because of an accident on the freeway involving a semi-trailer and a taxi cab so he arrived twelve minutes late; no big deal. Except today he was meeting the CTU’s newest field agent; one who held some promise.
The agent was originally a loaner to the Los Angeles unit following the nerve gas attack just six months before. He reinforced one of the tactical teams during that crisis and apparently CTU caught his interest and soon sent a resume to Division. Volunteers to CTU were hard to come by; most had to be scouted out and recruited like a basketball team. But they took and evaluated volunteers whenever they could.
“Jack,” Audrey Raines called to him as he finally arrived.
“Hey, Audrey,” Jack replied to his consort and love interest. “Is my ten o’clock here?”
“Since, seven forty-five,” Audrey grinned as she walked him up the stairs. “The new kid seems eager to get to work.”
“’Kid’,” Jack quizzed. “He’s twenty-six years old.”
“He looks twenty, twenty-two at the most.” Jack entered his office and met the new agent face-to-face for the first time. Audrey was right. Sure Jack had seen his photograph in the dossier but, seeing him in person, Ingram Walther Fuchs did look younger than he really was.
“Sorry I’m late,” Jack apologized, “traffic was worse than normal.”
“No need to apologize, sir,” Fuchs responded. “I was early as it was.”
“I heard about that, still sorry to make you wait.” Jack learned something he already guessed about the new agent: he still retained some of his prior military training. “We usually don’t have a lot of activity around here. But in the past things have gotten very hectic on a few days. So we’ll have to break you in fairly quick. Are you well rested?”
“Yes, sir,” Fuchs replied.
“Okay, first, you don’t have to say ‘sir’ all the time. I’m your superior, but this isn’t the military. You can just call me Jack, unless I give you an expressed order; understood?” He got a nod and a slight grin as the ‘kid’ relaxed. “Good. Last night we got lead about a meeting between the leader of a local gang and an unknown arms smuggler.” He grabbed a folder off his desk and handed it to the blue suited agent. “Marco Rivers, a.k.a.: ‘Big Fish’.”
“’Big Fish’?” Ingram asked with a look Audrey found to be much like Jack’s.
“He’s never been caught. He’s been arrested half a dozen times for gang related activities but never imprisoned. The arms dealer is known only by an alias: ‘Dr. Strangelove’.”
“How original,” Ingram chuckled. “We’ve got a Big Fish and a Dr. Strangelove. Now all we need is a Buck Turdgeson.”
“We’ll be coordinating with LAPD on this. Once we’re sure of the targets they’ll arrest Rivers and we’ll detain Mr. Strangelove.”
“Watch ‘em, tail ‘em, grab ‘em?”
“More or less; you ready?”
“Just tell me when we leave boss,” Ingram smiled.
“The meeting takes place at a nearby mall,” Jack informed him. “Sometime around noon, so we should go now.”
XXXXX
The voice-line was encrypted and electronically garbled for security. ‘Dr. Strangelove’ preferred to speak with his clients that way. “You cargo has been delivered to the pick-up site, Mr. Marks,” the garbled voice spoke over the intercom.
“Good,” the deep eerie voice of Mr. Marks replied from the shadows. “You’re payment satisfactory?”
“Indeed it is. And I noticed that you added another half to it as well,” Strangelove replied as he confirmed the wire transfer.
“Consider it a bonus for delivering the cargo ahead of schedule; you deserve it Dr. Strangelove. As for our previous arrangement, how does that go?”
“As planned. The contact is in the dark, as is the unit. What I don’t understand is why you asked me to make contact with her.”
“I thought you never asked questions.”
“I didn’t say ‘never’. I keep them ‘minimal’ and relative to the job. What is it you want from this contact?”
“When the time comes, I will call you. Until then keep focused on the job and remain a professional about it.”
“Of course, she’s not my type anyways,” Strangelove chuckled before hanging up.
XXXXX
As Agent Fuchs changed into more casual clothing in the locker room Jack got on his cell phone. Kim said she had the day off and he wanted to see if he could meet her for dinner. She was still seeing the clinical psychologist Barry Landes, to Jack’s fuming. Still, ever since he had to play dead Kim had been rather distant and Jack was now trying his best to patch things up with his daughter. Of course Barry didn’t seem to be of any help.
“Kim Bauer,” her voice rang through the phone.
“Kim, it’s me,” Jack replied lowly.
“What is it dad?”
“Look,” he paused, “I was wondering if I could meet you for dinner. I know we haven’t been on good terms lately but…just give me a chance, sweetheart.”
“Well, there is something I wanted to tell you so, sure, I’ll call you back later,” she replied, “bye.”
“I love you, sweet-” She had already hung up and Jack was beginning to think that they wouldn’t be meeting. She had said ‘yes’ but he was paranoid about Barry’s involvement in whether they would meet.
“Family?” Ingram asked as he exited the lockers dressed in a black windbreaker and brown cargo pants.
“My daughter,” Jack replied as he put the phone back in his pocket.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to spy.”
“I’m just worried about her and her boyfriend doesn’t understand.”
“What’s not to understand about a father being concerned for his daughter? I mean I’ve only known you for less than an hour but you seem like a good guy. What’s the dude’s problem?”
“He’s a psychiatrist,” Jack replied. “Her psychiatrist.”
“Ohh. I never cared for those much anyways. Trying to mend the fence with her?”
“Trying is the key word. And I don’t like to talk about it,” Jack barked as they entered the elevator.
“Sorry. It’s just I don’t have any family of my own. Just close buddies back in the army and Border Patrol.”
“Sorry to hear that, Ingram.”
“I’ve gotten used to it, much to my dislike.”
“Who was that?” Barry asked Kim as he exited the shower.
“My dad,” Kim said lying back on the bed. “He wanted to meet me for dinner.”
“Is that wise? He wasn’t very polite last we saw him.”
“He’s not normally like that, you know. Just, overly protective, I guess.”
“Or overly possessive,” Barry said as he sat down next to her. “He still treats you like a little girl and thinks he has a say in your life. You’re an adult, Kim, you can make your own choices now. Like last night.” Kim smiled at the thought; she had found Mr. Right.
“Yeah, I guess. Still I should tell him.”
“Okay,” Barry conceded as he leaned down to kiss her. Kim replied the kiss as she wrapped her hands around his head; a diamond studded ring perched on a certain finger of her left hand.
10:59:59
The following takes place between 11:00 A.M. and 12:00 P.M.
The job went smoothly. By the time the bank realized that $100,000 dollars had been stolen it would all be laundered and ready for their business. Kiryl was always an effective hand but today he surpassed expectations. As Kolya overlooked the counting and sorting of the bills Viktor approached him.
“We may have a lead on our old friend Ivan,” Viktor informed his boss. Kolya could not find a better use for some of the new money than to use it to find and take care of Ivan and those he now worked with.
“Have Kiryl help you out,” Kolya ordered. “Use what you need from downstairs to find him. When you do, call me. I want to make sure Ivan and his friends are dealt with.”
“No problem, comrade,” Viktor nodded. “All I have to do is wait for the police to get the man I need. Then it’s a simple task of snatching him from them.”
“What then?”
“The boy is one of these ‘hoods’ in this city; a weakling. With Kiryl’s help I can make him talk.”
“Do it.”
XXXXX
The drive to the mall was short, taking only fifteen minutes. A detective with LAPD was waiting when they pulled up. “Agents,” he greeted them, “My men are posted throughout the mall. Our boy has already entered and has been casually strolling around.”
“What other back-up do you have?” Jack asked as they approached the entrance.
“There are two choppers in the area as well as a SWAT team on standby a block away,” the detective replied. “Just in case.”
“Has Mr. Rivers been approached by anyone?” Ingram asked next.
“No. We’ve been tailing him very carefully. No one has approached him and he has not spoken to anyone, either. If he passed something to someone in a crowd we would have seen it.”
“Thank you, detective,” Jack replied. “We’ll join your men. Once we’ve confirmed that both targets have met up we’ll signal you.”
“Understood.” And the detective was gone.
“Do we have any idea what Dr. Strangelove looks like?” Ingram asked his superior.
“Can’t say. NSA managed to pick up his phone call, which gave us the lead, but his voice was distorted. No photograph, nothing. But we estimate that he’s in his late thirties, early forties.”
“Well,” Ingram chuckled as he scanned the crowd of mall goers. “Thanks for narrowing the field down.”
XXXXX
Chloe and Audrey had been working on whatever information they had in regards to the alias ‘Dr. Strangelove’. Audrey was able to pick up one bit of information from Homeland Security on another alias believed to coincide with Strangelove. She called Jack.
“Bauer,” Jack answered his phone.
“It’s Audrey; I found some more information on Dr Strangelove.””Go ahead,” Jack said as he pulled out his PDA.
“Homeland Security has a file on a ‘Mr. Oddjob’ who is believed to of Russian decent. Mr. Oddjob is an arms dealer specializing with smuggling illicit arms and explosives across the Mexican border.”
“Any idea what he looks like?” Jack asked as he skimmed the file on his PDA.
“No. HOMSEC couldn’t get a good description of him except he’s about six feet tall and has dark brown, maybe black hair.”
“Okay, thanks Audrey.” Jack hung up and informed Ingram on the new intel. “At least we’ve narrowed it down about half.” Ingram chuckled at that.
“Yeah, complete with the name of a Bond villain, thanks.”
On the other side of the mall, Kim and Barry had just walked in. Unbeknownst to Kim they passed the uber-luxurious jewelry store where Barry had purchased the engagement ring. But she clearly knew the ring was expensive by the intricate patterns on white gold on the outside of the 24k yellow gold band, the unique shape of the diamond and the custom scroll work of her name on the inside of the band. But she didn’t care; she was in seventh heaven at the moment.
XXXXX
“I think I’ll be getting that new job at Hendley Associates over on third,” Kim said as they stopped at an Auntie Anne’s.
“Great,” Barry congratulated. “You won’t have to go far to get to work anymore.”
“Yeah. I go in for my interview on Monday. The supervisor I spoke to on the phone seemed eager to have the interview.”
“That’s always a good sign.” They continued on toward the outside dining area at the center of the mall.
Big Fish had sat down in the outside dining area. Jack and Ingram were on the level above him and working their way down the stairs. Ingram purchased an LA Angel’s ball cap to further blend in. “So we’re looking for a guy with dark hair, about my height possibly with a Russian accent,” Ingram mused. “Shouldn’t be too hard; all we gotta do is get close enough to hear him breathe.”
“Yeah,” Jack agreed. “If he doesn’t notice the security.”
“These plain clothes guys seem fairly competent.” Ingram observed as they sat down at a table and he began to read the paper. “Obviously we can pick them out, but unless someone was trained to look for them they’d have a hard time knowing they’re there.”
He saw his supplier on the other side of the court. ‘Dr. Strangelove’ was right on time: 11:55 as agreed. He knew it was him because of the blue jacket and white t-shirt he was wearing and his friend, a blonde. He tossed the half-empty soda can into the central trash can: the signal that it was clear.
“Hey, Kim, why don’t you pick out a table,” Barry said to his fiancée. “I’ll get us lunch.”
“Sure thing,” Kim said and after pecking him on the cheek they broke apart.
“What’s Kim doing here?” Jack wondered aloud as he looked over Ingram’s shoulder. Ingram saw an attractive blonde girl about his age and a few inches shorter walking perpendicular to his view and not too far away.
“Shopping?” Ingram asked. “Or are you worried that it’s not a coincidence?”
“She’s probably just shopping,” Jack shrugged off his paranoia but his attention was still distracted towards his daughter.
“Look, I’ve got Big Fish covered, Jack,” Ingram said as he watched said person get a drink from a water fountain. “Go ahead. See if you can’t break the ice between you two. Plus it’ll make us blend in more if we’re not walking around together all the time.”
“Thanks,” Jack said, “I’ve got my earpiece in.” He got up and made his way toward Kim.”
“Kim,” Kim heard a voice call out from behind her.
“Dad,” she was surprised to see him here. “What are you doing here?”
“I just happened to be in the area,” he explained, “and I saw you just now. How are you doing?” He didn’t like meeting his daughter like this. Sure he knew she wasn’t a little girl anymore but he still missed when she greeted him with a hug. Maybe just a smile and a step closer to him would be fine. But not since Barry became a factor.”Happy as can be,” she replied. ‘Is this a good time to tell him? I wasn’t expecting to see him so soon.’
“You, uh, wanted to share something with me?”
Ingram noticed Big Fish moving away so he followed and approached Jack and Kim Bauer so as not to attract attention. Fish stopped at another soda machine and appeared to be thinking about the selection. “Kim,” Jack said as Ingram stepped up. “This is Ingram Fuchs. Ingram, this is my daughter, Kim.””Pleasure to meet you, Kim,” Ingram bowed his head.
“Thanks,” Kim said as she made eye contact with the young and attractive agent. ‘Too bad I’m engaged, huh.’ “Dad, about what I wanted to speak with you about…”
“Uh,” Ingram tapped Jack’s shoulder. “I’ll just be over that-a-way, okie dokie?” And he excused himself. As he did so he glanced over at Big Fish. He now had a coke in his hand and nodded to someone behind Ingram. He turned and looked past Kim’s back and over Jack’s shoulder to a man with a brown beard, blue jacket and white shirt. The face said all that was needed for Ingram.
He saw the agent and locked eyes with him. He knew he was an agent because he was the one who busted a deal a few years ago in Texas. ‘Mac Fuchs!’ He swore to himself. He quickly reached into a black fanny pack and Ingram knew what ‘Dr. Strangelove’ slash ‘Dr. Oddjob’ was reaching for.
“Barry’s right over there,” Kim said and Jack turned around. Both saw the panicked expression on Barry’s face as he was pulling something black from his…
“Jack, get down!” Ingram shouted as he darted forward, knocking Jack off his feet behind a steel bench and putting his body between Kim and the shooter just as a nine millimeter bullet flew towards them and impacted dead center on Ingram’s chest, spinning him around and sending him to the ground on top of the frightened Kim Bauer.
11:59:59
The following takes place between 12:00 P.M. and 1:00 P.M.
People were screaming and running around like decapitated chickens. Kim was so shocked by the sudden eruption of gunfire that she froze where she was on the ground. Ingram turned his body over and drew his Smith & Wesson M&P and fired two .357 Sig caliber rounds at the fleeing shooter.
“Are you alright?” Jack asked as he jumped to his feet.
“I’m fine!” Ingram yelled as he rubbed his sore chest. “Just get that sonuvabitch!”
“Stay with my daughter!” Jack ordered as he took off in pursuit of Barry. Ingram crawled to his knees and helped the shocked Kim stand up, he then led her off to the nearest exit where LAPD would be waiting.
“LAPD, LAPD,” he called into his collar mic, “this is Agent Fuchs, shots fired! Targets Big Fish and Strangelove are fleeing on foot. Call in your SWAT team ASAP. Agent Bauer is in pursuit of Strangelove. I’m injured and proceeding to the northeast entrance, out.”
Meanwhile, Jack was darting through the halls and shops trying to catch Barry. He couldn’t figure out why he had just shot at them. He did know that he would only get his answers if he caught the man. “Barry, stop!” He ordered as he chased Barry into a service corridor in the back of an L.L. Bean. As he approached the door to the corridor Barry poked his head from around the corner and fired two shots at head level. Jack ducked underneath them and returned fire. One round went through the wall and grazed Barry’s shoulder forcing him to drop his pistol, a Russian Makarov.
Jack got back on his feet and continued the pursuit. He ran down the blank corridors and burst through a steel door that led into the parking lot. He scanned the lot but saw no sign of Barry. Squad cars and the armored SWAT van raced into the lot but Barry was gone. “Damnit!” Jack cursed as he kicked a trashcan. He got on his phone to CTU.
“O’Brian,” Chloe answered her phone.
“Chloe its Jack,” his voice rang through. “There’s been a shooting at the mall.”
“What?”
“Is that Jack?” Audrey asked as she came over and Chloe put it on speaker. “Jack, what’s going on?”
“Audrey, my daughter’s boyfriend just opened fire on us at the mall. Ingram’s been hit, but not bad.”
“Barry shot Ingram?” Chloe asked.
“I don’t know why,” he said as he approached the ambulance where Ingram was being looked at, it was close to their SUV. “But put an APB out on Barry Landes.”
“Got it,” Chloe answered. “I’ll also see if there’s anything we can find on him too. I’ll get back to you.”
“And I’ll send a search team over to his residence to check it out,” Audrey added.
“Thanks,” he closed his phone and approached Kim who was standing alongside the ambulance. “Kim?”
“Dad,” she whimpered and went into his arms. “What’s going on? Why did Barry shoot at us?” Ingram came around the corner carrying the shot up vest he was wearing under his clothes. (A/N: Kevlar, baby. Never leave home without it.)
“I can answer that,” Ingram said. “His real name is Ivan Sergey Arkadeyevich. He’s ex-Russian intelligence but he got disavowed by them for lining his pockets with drug money. He then went on to work for the Russian Mafia. He stepped on the wrong toes and fled to the US. Last lead we got he was smuggling guns, explosives, and drugs across the border for the El Terrible Syndicate in San Diego.”
“How do you know that?” Jack asked the new agent.
“Agents,” the detective came over to them. “We’ve apprehended Mr. Rivers.”
“Send him to CTU,” Jack ordered. “I want answers.”
“I’ll explain on the way to CTU,” Ingram said as they made for the car.
“You…you mean,” Kim pouted, “Barry’s…”
“I’m very sorry,” Ingram apologized softly. He then helped Jack lead her to the car.
XXXXX
He ditched the car in the swelling waters of the Los Angeles River and got on his secured phone. “This is Tupolev,” a voice answered.
“My cover has been blown,” ‘Barry’ answered in a Russian accent. “I need pickup.”
“Where?”
“Location ‘B’.”
“We’ll be there in five minutes.” He hung up and walked away from the area and headed for his pickup point. ‘How did CTU find me?’ He asked himself. ‘It was him. Mac Fuchs led them to me. But how?’
XXXXX
Curtis Manning, the Special Agent in Charge of CTU Los Angeles, entered the briefing room and was greeted by Audrey. “What happened?” He asked.
“It seems Kim Bauer and her boyfriend, Barry Landes were both at the mall,” Audrey explained. “Apparently he opened fire on Jack and Ingram…”
“Who’s Ingram?” Manning asked confusingly.
“The new field agent? Jack was giving him a check out on this sting operation.” Manning nodding recollection as they stepped into his office. “Anyways Landes opened fire on them and hit Ingram. He’s not injured, his vest stopped the bullet.”
“Why did he open fire on CTU agents in broad daylight?” At that moment the phone rang.
“We don’t know yet,” Audrey explained as Manning answered the phone.
“Manning.”
“It’s Jack,” Jack answered from the driver’s seat as they were on their way back to CTU. “Search the database for an Ivan Sergey Arkadeyevich. He’s ex-Russian intelligence who went rogue about five years ago. He may be involved in illicit arms trafficking.”
“Who is this Ivan?” Manning asked.
“It’s the real identity of Barry Landes,” he dropped the shoe as Kim played with the ring on her finger. Ingram looked over his shoulder and took note of her sour expression. He felt sorry for her, now more than ever after noticing the ring. She just learned that her fiancée was involved in illegal activities involving smuggling and was not who he said he was. “He’s a smuggler/arms dealer who used to work for Russian Intelligence. Get back to me when you can.” Jack looked over at Ingram who shot him a glance that said they might have to keep an eye on Kim. “How do you know this ‘Ivan Arkadeyevich’?” Jack asked Ingram in a whisper.
“When I was still with Border Patrol I went undercover working in junction with BATFE posing as a client to purchase a shipment of plastic explosives,” Ingram explained in whisper as well. “Somehow, during the deal Ivan got wind of me being a Fed and the operation went south. A firefight ensued between one of our SRT teams and other clients at the train yard. I was this close to getting him,” he held his thumb and index an inch apart, “when he shot me and escaped back across the border. He’s been in hiding ever since. The rest we can figure out later.” They pulled up and parked at CTU.
As the agents got out Kim paused in the back seat, staring at the ring on her finger. “Listen, Jack,” Ingram said as he stopped him from opening the door. “I’m not a shrink but I think we need to give Kim some space with this and go easy on her. I doubt she knows what he’s been up to but may be able to help us bag him. But, listen…she’s just been dealt a really bad hand.” ‘More than you may know.’ “The last thing she needs is a suit questioning her in an eight by ten room with a two-way mirror.”
“I know,” Jack shot back, “she’s my daughter. I appreciate the concern though.” Ingram released Jack’s arm and they helped Kim out of the car. They lead her to the elevator but let her set the pace. Jack held her close to make her feel more at ease with CTU. She never really got used to the place after her mother, Teri Bauer, was murdered by the traitor Nina Myers. She was almost paranoid about it when she thought Jack was dead. He was afraid of what she might feel after what just happened at the mall.
XXXXX
The refinery had been long since abandoned. It sat on almost five acres surrounded by industrial buildings, mostly abandoned on the south side of the city. A tan four door truck pulled up into one of the storage containers and four men exited. The driver stayed with the vehicle, holding his Uzi submachine gun along his waist. The other three headed off for the train yard nearby. As they entered the silo cream colored vans and SUVs pulled up along the front of the main control building and armed men got out and began setting up shop inside.
One of the three men stayed at the door to the yard with his own Uzi standing ready. The other two, wearing thick protective HAZMAT gloves, proceeded inside a bricked up closet and after a minute exited with a heavy metal crate. Over the next fifteen minutes they transferred the crate and others like it from the yard to where a tin shed was being erected and men with heavy work tools were preparing for some kind of work.
Inside the control building a man in a brown suit received a phone call as he sat his suitcase down on a bare bed. “Marks,” he answered.
“My cover is blown,” a distorted voice reported. “CTU identified me an hour ago.”
“How did this happen?”
“I don’t know. But I’m cut off from my contact.”
“Restore it.”
“She was there when I was identified. She’ll no longer trust me. I have to get out of the country.”
“You listen to me, Ivan Arkadeyevich,” Marks growled. “Yeah, I know who you are. And I know the Russians, and more specifically the mafia would love to get their hands on you. You run and they will find you, I’ll make sure of that. You are my agent and you will follow my orders.”
“I understand,” Ivan said after removing the distortion device from the phone. “But Kim Bauer has been taken to CTU. There is no way for me to get to her.”
“Precisely who identified you? Jack Bauer?”
“No another agent. I know him as ‘Mac Fuchs’ he used to be Border Patrol but now he’s CTU.”
“I want you just make sure this ‘Fuchs’ and CTU is focused on you. Do what you must to keep their focus on you. You seem to know Agent Fuchs, use that but whatever you do you must keep their attention on you.” He hung up abruptly. ‘We may have to modify the schedule.’ He exited the room and went to check the shed where a large device was being built.
12:59:59
The following takes place between 1:00 P.M. and 2:00 P.M.
A black sedan tailed the squad car and was going to surprise it before it made the turn for the precinct house when they noticed that it didn’t. Confused they continued to follow it until it turned into a Federal building: the Counter Terrorist Unit, CTU.
“It’s Kiryl,” he called Kolya. “The police did not take our target to the station.”
“Where did they take him?” Kolya demanded.
“CTU, Counter Terrorist Unit.”
“We must find Ivan, Kiryl,” Kolya answered. “Find a way to get him.”
“I will.”
XXXXX
Kim sat down in the lounge as Jack reported to Manning. Ingram joined her to keep an eye on her. “You want anything?” He asked. “Coffee, donut?”
“Water,” she replied. Ingram nodded and went to the fridge and took out a bottle of water, opened it and gave it to her. “Thanks,” she whispered. As she sipped at the water Ingram noticed her glum expression.
“It’s not your fault,” Ingram said simply.
“How would you know?” Kim shot back. “You weren’t engaged to him.” She looked down at her hand at the ring. Barry turned out to be a smuggler and possibly a killer. He had lied to her. She ripped the ring off her finger and threw it at the glass doors leaving a white dot where it impacted. “I am so…mad.”
“Clearly,” Ingram replied. “And maybe you should; but not at yourself. He did lie, but he was the liar. Not you.” He patted her on the shoulder as he stood up. “Just hang in there.” At that moment Audrey and Jack came into the lounge.
“Ingram,” Audrey called to him, “you have a call on line four.”
“Who is it?”
“He says he’s you uncle.”
“The hell?” Ingram walked forward. “The only uncle I have is Uncle Sam.” They went to Jack’s office where he put the call on speaker, Kim followed. “Hello? Who is this?”
“Long time no see, Mac,” a familiar accented voice called out over the speaker. Audrey signaled Chloe to begin a trace of the call.
“Well how are you doin’, Ivan?” Ingram chided the Russian. “Still enjoying the occasional crawl in the sand I take it? What are you smuggling these days? RPG’s, AK47’s, crack or are you moving up in the world?”
“My business is none of your business, Mac.”
‘Mac?’ Jack wondered as he eyeballed him.
“After my first name, Ingram,” he whispered to Jack. “It’s my business when you shoot me the chest. And not for the first time, I might add you Bolshevik bastard.” That outburst stunned the other three in the room.
“I’d watch my mouth if I were you. You’ve interfered with me for the last time.”
“What my mouth does is none of your business,” Ingram replied in a mock accent.
“Barry?” Kim spoke up.
“Well hello, Kim. I see you’re there too. Tell me, has Jack hounded you since I left? Has he kept you in eye sight like a love starved Jack Russell Terrier?” Jack bolted for the phone but Ingram held him back.
“I heard about that, Ivan,” Ingram retook the focus. “You’re a psychiatrist now aren’t you? Well keep your mind games to yourself. In fact why don’t you crawl back under your rock and get trashed on moonshine vodka you commie.”
“I told you to watch your mouth, Mac. You’ve crossed me for the last time, you Yankee scum.” The line then went dead.
XXXXX
“Chloe!” Audrey called out of the office. “Did you get the trace?”
“Not all the way,” the chief analyst replied. “But he is somewhere on the north side.”
“He’ll be moving all around the city,” Ingram replied.
“What were you thinking?” Jack asked his subordinate. “Talking to him on the phone like that?”
“He has a bit of an inferiority complex when it comes to his heritage,” Ingram informed them. “Insulting his background gets him riled up. He feels a need to defend himself. But,” he paused, “what gets me is that he called to threaten me and insult you and Kim. That’s not like him. He usually just disappears after something like this.”
“Maybe you really pissed him off?” Audrey suggested.
“No I don’t think that’s it. There’s something else going on; something that we’re missing.” At that moment Manning came into the office.
“The search team just reported in from the Landes residence,” he announced. “They found his laptop and several journals. The computer is encrypted and the journals are coded.”
“We should check out his office,” Jack suggested.
“He doesn’t have an office,” Kim replied. “He works on call.”
“Anything else from the residence?” Jack asked.
“Not that they saw.” Manning replied. “But I want someone to see for themselves.” The phone rang and Audrey answered.
“It’s Chloe,” the voice answered. “About a half hour after the shots were fired at the mall someone fitting Barry Landes’ description entered a secure holdings bank a mile away.”
“Safe deposit box,” Ingram deduced.
“I’ll check the bank,” Jack suggested. “Ingram, you seem to know this Ivan the best so check the house out.”
“You got it,” he turned to Kim. “Is there anything you need to get from there?” Kim nodded and Ingram looked back over at Jack.
“I don’t want her leaving, it might not be safe.”
“I can still get some things,” Ingram offered and got a nod.
As Jack left to check out the bank and Audrey went with Chloe to check out the encrypted laptop Ingram got the short list of things from Kim. “I hadn’t moved in quite yet. Probably never will.”
“True,” Ingram replied.
“What’s your name? Ingram or Mac?”
“Mac is my nickname,” Ingram replied. “After a series of machineguns.” Kim’s eyebrows jumped at that.
“Well, thank you for doing this…Mac.”
“Well, in situations like this sometimes you don’t need a shrink. Just someone to be a friend.” Kim nodded a slight smile and returned to the lounge as Robert made for the garage.
XXXXX
Outside Kiryl and Viktor checked the CTU perimeter, looking for a way in. After reviewing a layout of the building they got from a scrupulous seller on the internet they formed a simple but flashy plan. They left the neighborhood for the safe house to get the needed equipment and men to implement the plan. As they finalized the plan AK47’s and explosives were loaded into three SUVs.
XXXXX
As Ingram arrived at the residence he got an urgent call from Chloe, “I just thought you should know that trace amounts of radiation were found on the journals.”
“How much radiation are we talking about?” Ingram asked in a panicked tone before he opened the door. “I don’t want any sterility setting in on me.”
“Marginal. Not enough to be harmful to you but if you can find the source on the premise…”
“Is Kim at risk?” Ingram interrupted.
“No we just checked her. Whatever was giving off the radiation probably wasn’t very radioactive. I have a HAZMAT team en route.”
“Okay, thanks.” Ingram hung up and returned to his vehicle. He pulled a handheld Geiger counter from the back and took inside with him. He turned on the counter and checked the house. Nothing was radioactive until he got to the bedroom closet. He found a dirty windbreaker and a pair of boots that were slightly radioactive. Whatever Ivan was dealing in it involved something that was radioactive.
1:59:59
The following takes place between 2:00 P.M. and 3:00 P.M.
Everything was set. Soon they may get someone who knew where Ivan Sergey Arkadeyevich may be. They just had to go through Federal Agents to get to him. But their info suggested that most of the people on the inside were unarmed and untrained. The hard part with places like this was getting inside. But, once you were inside you’d have no trouble.
“This is Kiryl, all teams ready?”
“Team Blue, ready.”
“Team Red, ready.”
“Team Green, ready.”
“This is Yellow, go on my signal.” Kiryl ordered as he scanned the perimeter and waited for the opportune moment.
XXXXX
Progress on the device was going well with the updated schedule. What worried Marks was getting the delivery system ready. They could get the device to the destination but they still had yet to figure out how to increase the casualties at the target site. The more the better. The original detonation site was good, but Marks’ employers would prefer something better.
His employers had supplied the material and Ivan succeeded in acquiring explosives and getting the material across the border. He was also distracting Jack Bauer, CTU and this Mac Fuchs from them.
XXXXX
The HAZMAT team arrived and did a more thorough search of the property. The only radioactive items were a black parka, a pair of dirty boots and Kim’s jacket which was right against the parka. All three were confiscated and taken for more careful study. As he searched the residence Mac collected Kim’s belongings minus the jacket. As he checked the living room he found a hidden compartment in one of the lounge chairs.
All he found inside was a piece of paper with two lines of numbers on it. It was a constant line with too many numbers to be a phone number and it wasn’t an address. He turned on his phone as he returned to his vehicle. “Bauer.”
“Jack, it’s me, Mac,” Mac answered. “I’ve found two sets of numbers at the house. I don’t know what they are but maybe they’re bank account numbers; you there yet?”
“I just arrived. What are the numbers?” Mac read them out. “Okay, I’ll get back to you on that. Get back to CTU and check on Kim for me.”
“You got it. Oh, the journals the search team found and two jackets and a pair of boots at the house had trace amounts of radiation on them. I checked with Chloe, Kim is fine; the HAZMAT team said it was only trace amounts. But whatever our friend Ivan is up to can’t be good.”
“Okay. You how I said we had a few days when things got exciting?”
“Yeah. This one of them?”
“I think so. I’ll get back to you.”
“Sweet,” Mac groaned as he pulled out of the driveway. “Hell of way to start the first day on the job.”
XXXXX
Jack got access to the back rooms of the bank and checked personally with the manager. Neither of the numbers were account numbers. Jack got on the phone to CTU. He meant to get a hold of Chloe but instead got Kyle Jenkins, an assistant analyst under Chloe. “Kyle, I’ve got a pair on numbers here. Neither I nor Ingram has an idea what they are. Check the files on Barry Landes and Ivan Arkadeyevich for any reference to them. Get back to me if you get anything.” He hung up and then called Ingram.
“Fuchs.”
“Mac, it’s me. Those numbers you gave me weren’t account numbers I’m having the files checked to see if we can’t figure them out.”
“Their probably codes that only Ivan would know.” Ingram deduced. “We’ve gotta find that snake, Jack.”
“Are you at CTU yet?”
“I just pulled up. Listen, after giving Kim her stuff I thought I’d question Big Fish and see if he…” an explosion rocked the CTU building and smoke filled the garage causing Ingram to lose control and impact a wall.
“Mac? MAC!” Jack screamed into the phone as he bolted out of the bank and into his vehicle.
XXXXX
Everyone in the control room was rounded up and bound together. Kim was the last to be found as she tried to escape through a vent in the ceiling. As she was being pulled out the man that was arrested earlier was also pulled out from the interrogation room. “All teams,” the masked leader called into his radio. “We have our objective. Begin withdrawal.”
Ingram had come to and was crawling through the hole blown in the wall. It deposited him in a rubble strewn corridor not far from the control room. He heard a commotion in the room and entered. When he did one of the masked gunmen in black suits spotted him. He shouted something in Russian and fired. Mac returned fire and killed two of the gunmen.
“Hold your fire, agent!” The leader ordered as he held the blonde he was tying up in front of him. His number two also held Big Fish up in the same manner. “You want this man alive. And I know you wouldn’t want anything to happen to one of your own.” Ingram poked his head from around a corner and saw Kim being held with a gun to her head. “I have more men surrounding you right now.” Mac looked around and saw he wasn’t bluffing. “I am a man of my word. You let us walk out of here, no one gets hurt.”
“You let her go,” Ingram bargained.
“As I said, no one gets hurt. But only after you let us go. She will be released. We’re not in the business of kidnapping.”
“But you’re in the business of smuggling radioactive material?”
“Is that what old Ivan up to? Well we don’t care. We do want to find him though. So how about it, comrade?” He pressed the barrel closer to Kim’s head. “Blood or no blood. I assure you, if it lowers to that level, she will be the first to die.” He knew he couldn’t bargain with terrorists but he couldn’t sacrifice Kim’s life. They had hit CTU like a Kansas tornado and there was no way he could hold them here. So he came around the corner and held his pistol up to show he wouldn’t stop them.
“You just let her go.”
“We will,” they then slowly slinked their way past Mac, no fewer than four automatic rifles were trained on him as they did so. They exited out of the hole and departed the facility.
XXXXX
When Jack arrived the terrorists’ vehicles were gone. He found Mac sulking in the locker room. “They said they’d let her go, Jack,” he explained lowly. “I couldn’t stop them; there wasn’t anything I could’ve done. If I fought we both would be dead and the entire staff as well. Audrey is fine, as is Manning. Chloe suffered a good knock to her head but she’ll pull through.” He was then yanked to his feet and slammed into the opposite row of lockers by the irate Jack Bauer.
“You let them take my daughter!” He yelled at the rookie. “You let them take my little girl! The only person that I have left!” Ingram was so ashamed and dishonored by his act that he couldn’t bring himself to look Jack in the eye, let alone reply. A moment later, Audrey came in.
“Jack,” she said trying to calm him down. “Calm down, Jack. Kim is fine. She’s on the phone right now.” Jack turned to her as Ingram let out a deep sigh. Jack dropped the agent back to his feet and took the phone from Audrey and went out into the hall.
“Sweetheart, are you alright?” He asked immediately.
“I’m fine dad,” Kim responded with traffic in the background. “They let me go. I’m not far from CTU.”
On the street, Kim didn’t know she was being watched.
“I’ll come get you, sweetheart,” Jack promised. “No one will hurt you again. Ingram shouldn’t…”
“He didn’t have a choice, dad,” Kim found herself defending a total stranger. “He did it to save our lives. I don’t…AHH! DAD!”
“Kim!” Jack shouted into the phone.
“If you want your daughter back,” Ivan’s voice came back over the line, “give up Mac Fuchs. I’ll call you, Jack.” The line went dead before Jack could reply.
XXXXX
“Let me go!” Kim shouted as her former fiancée forced her into a red van.
“Keep quiet!” Ivan ordered as Kim was bound and gagged in the back seat.
2:59:59
The following takes place between 3:00 P.M. and 4:00 P.M.
Jack briefed Manning, Audrey and the others that Ivan now has his daughter. It seemed an especially hard blow to Ingram since it was his nemesis Ivan who now had Kim. He didn’t know what Ivan’s game was but he wasn’t going to let him get away with it. He approached Jack about it.
“Jack something’s not adding up,” he explained as damage crews cleared the rubble away and the intermittent power was restored. “Ivan doesn’t act this way. It’s way outside his MO.”
“So is everything that happens around here, Agent Fuchs,” he was reduced to a last name basis now. “And unless you have anything that can get my daughter back you get the hell out of here and back to your apartment. That’s an order.” Shot down, Ingram had no choice but to leave.
XXXXX
Kim huddled in the corner of the van as the man she once knew as Barry watched her from the front with a gun in his hand. The last few hours were getting to be too much. It was too much like when she was kidnapped by the men who wanted revenge on her father.
“Jack,” Manning came over to the Director of Field Ops. “We just ID’d the two dead gunmen; they’re members of the Russian Mafia. The camera’s show at least a dozen armed men raiding the facility and removing Mr. Rivers.”
“Why would they want him?” Jack wondered.
“Rivers has no connection with the mafia as far as we know.”
“But Ivan does,” Jack surmised. “The mafia must’ve found out about Rivers and grabbed him.”
“But why?”
“Because they think he will lead them to Ivan and they want him dead.”
“Okay, we can use this,” Manning said as they walked to his office. “We can get in contact with the FBI and get whatever information we can on the Mafia. Maybe we can follow them to Ivan, get Kim back and stop Ivan from whatever he’s up to.” He then looked around the control room. “Where’s Ingram?”
“He let the Mafia attackers go and take my daughter in the process so I sent him home.”
“Well get him back, Jack!” Manning ordered. “He knows this dirt bag more than anyone here. He’s a prime source of intel on this bastard. You get him back here, Jack!” Manning then stormed off to his office.
XXXXX
Audrey checked in on Chloe in the clinic. She had a mild concussion but was not in any danger. However, she wouldn’t be able to work for several days and she was expected to be unconscious for the next few hours. She heard Jack berate Ingram and also watched him send the rookie packing. He was extremely harsh on the new agent. ‘But then his daughter was just kidnapped,’ Audrey deduced. Any father would be angry. Jack just needed to get himself under control and cut Mac some slack.
In his office, as workers replaced the glass partitions Jack glanced over at the phone. Sure he was still angry at Ingram but he was beginning to think clearly again. The kid didn’t have a choice. He knew that better now after seeing the security tapes. But still…his daughter was still out there. Finally he gave in and picked up the phone.
XXXXX
Ingram disconnected his home phone. He was feeling dishonored and ashamed. He respected Jack and felt some kind of bond to him. But now Jack didn’t trust him and blamed him for his daughters kidnap. He sat on his futon and thought over the incident. If he had fought back everyone would’ve been dead. He was in a no-win situation. And from what Jack had told everyone, the Russians let her go as true to their word. It was that snake Ivan that…
“Ivan,” Mac realized. The attackers weren’t working for Ivan they had to be Mafia. It’s the only explanation. He got off the sofa and he got on his computer. He still had a few contacts in Border Patrol and could get access to Ivan’s files. All he would need is a name that would lead him to the mafia and hopefully Ivan and Kim.
XXXXX
“Marks.”
“It’s Ivan,” Ivan called his employer. “I have the girl. This will certainly keep CTU focused on me. Jack Bauer will not let anything happen to his daughter.”
“And what about Fuchs?”
“He’ll also be involved.”
“Good. Take the girl to the safe house. I will meet you there.”
“Understood.” And they hung up.
“Michael,” Marks called to one of his men. “Contact our insider. I have something that’ll keep CTU busy for the next few hours.” He laid it out simply. “By the time they figure out it was a ruse, they’ll be working damage control.” On the TV in the background the pre-game show for a college football game was on mute.
XXXXX
It took him a while to get the files on his home computer but Ingram was able to do it. The local Russian Mafia was small compared to the size of the city. Its suspected boss was a man named Kolya Bratchenko, ex-KGB. No confirmed address was given but a few good ones were there.
The punch landed hard on Rivers’ face. Now both cheeks and both eyes were bruised and cut. A quick kick to the gut followed. “Where is your supplier?” Kiryl demanded to know.
“I swear,” Big Fish pleaded. “I don’t know. He was going to give me a place where he would hand over the gats and I’d pay him the money. But the meeting was blown by some G-men. I swear I don’t know where he…” he was forcibly grabbed by the throat.
“Then how do you contact him?”
“My…ph-phone,” he coughed. “Has his number…under Strangelove! That’s all I know! I swear man!” He was released and left in the metal room all by himself. Outside Kiryl pulled out his own phone and observed Rivers’.
“Kiryl, give me good news,” Kolya said over the line.
“I sure will. We can track Ivan’s position.”
XXXXX
“Jack,” Audrey came in his office with a rush. “Have you spoken with Ingram yet?”
“His phone at home is disconnected and he’s turned his cell off,” Jack said. “I think I pushed him a little too hard.”
“You’ve got to see this,” she laid a photograph on the table. It was a picture of Ingram meeting with a man wearing dark glasses. “Jenkins pulled this off one of the files related to the Mafia. It was taken from an unspecified surveillance operation. We don’t know when the photo was taken but we do know that it’s Mac and the other man is Kolya Bratchenko, the leader of the Russian Mafia in LA.”
“What?”
“Ingram is a mole, he works for them.”
XXXXX
Okay he had a good guess of where he could find Kolya. But he would need help and Jack’s approval before he did anything. But before that he needed to find where Kim was being held. He turned his phone back on and called Jack.
“Bauer.”
“Jack,” Mac said over the phone unknowing that he was suspected of treason. “I think I may be able to find a way to get Kim back.”
“How so?” Jack asked as he signaled Audrey and Jenkins to start the trace. “Where are you?”
“I’m just leaving my apartment; I’m coming back to CTU. I think I may have a plan.”
“Come in and explain it to me.”
“On my way.” He hung up without knowing that he had been set up.
“When he arrives I want him placed under restraint,” Jack asked of Manning.
“He’ll be arrested when he exits the elevator,” Curtis promised.
3:59:59
The following takes place between 4:00 P.M. and 5:00 P.M.
The insider had done well. Not only would CTU be focused on Ivan as he did his own thing but they would be pitting two of their agents against each other. So far Marks’ plan was safe and would not be compromised. But he still did not have a way to increase the damage from the device. He looked over the map of the target site and the blueprints of the target, looking for a way to increase casualties.
As he looked up he saw a reporter discussing an airship on the TV. It would be the inaugural flight of the newest Goodyear airship. Suddenly Marks had an epiphany.
XXXXX
Ingram rushed back to CTU, eager to get off Jack’s shit-list and get his daughter back for him. However, as he stepped off the elevator he was met by Jack and two security guards holding their pistols on him. “Hands on your head,” Jack ordered.
“What’d you got going here, Jack?” Ingram asked as he complied.
“You try anything and I will kill you,” Jack responded as Ingram was handcuffed.
“Jack, what is going on?” Ingram demanded to know as his side arm was taken from him.
“Cut the bullshit, kid,” Jack hissed. “We know you’re on the Mafia’s payroll.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“You helped them get in and you helped them escape.”
“Jack…why would I do it?”
“You tell me. You’ve been playing me all along.”
“Jack!”
“Get him out of here.”
“Jack!” Ingram yelled as he was taken toward the holding unit. “Jack, I’m not the bad guy! I'm not working for the Russians, Jack! Jack!”
XXXXX
As Ingram was being imprisoned Ivan was binding Kim to a chair in a run down and abandoned apartment building. Ivan and his two bodyguards watched her, the door and the window as they waited for Marks. Suddenly there was a series of three knocks on the door. “It’s Marks,” a voice called out. Ivan opened the door and a balding man came in with two more men. “Is this the girl?”
“Yes.” Ivan replied. “Whether or not CTU complies is no matter. They are distracted.”
“Good. I’ve taken care of Fuchs. CTU should have him under control.” They heard muffling from Kim and Ivan walked over and ripped the duct tape from her mouth.
“Why are you doing this?” Kim asked of Ivan.
“It is of no consequence to you, Kim,” Ivan said as he brushed his hand along her hair. “Your father will have no choice to cooperate since we have you. If he doesn’t want you suffering…indignities, he will cooperate.” Ivan then walked away from her.
“About Jack Bauer,” Marks spoke up. “I need assurance that he will be dealt with. He’s the best agent CTU has and he has a knack for disrupting operations.”
“Trust me, he won’t be any trouble. Not while we have his ‘little girl’.”
XXXXX
Mac was held in a holding room with his jacket off and his hands cuffed behind his back. A uniformed guard armed with a tazer was to his right. As Ingram contemplated what has happening Jack came into the room, looking pissed.
“Jack I swear that I am not a traitor!”
“You helped a criminal organization raid a government building, capture a federal witness and kidnap my daughter!” Jack screamed. “Even if you’re not responsible for Kim’s kidnapping, you’re responsible for the deaths of three personnel who died in the blast and two guards who were gunned down. You obviously had to have fed them intel on our facility to allow them entry. Why should I trust you at all?”
“Because I can help you get her back! I know how we can contact the Mafia, Jack!”
“I know you do. I want the names of your contacts and their locations, now.”
“I don’t have any contacts!” Jack then slid a photograph across the table.
“This photo says otherwise.”
“What is this Jack? I have never seen that man!”
“Then what are you doing talking with him?” Jack screamed as he shoved his chair into the wall. “Tell me where I can find Kolya Bratchenko!”
“I don’t know! I only have suspicions of how we can find them!”
“You mean he contacts you?”
“No. God damnit, Jack!” Ingram stood up. “I’m not working for him!” Jack forcefully shoved Ingram back into his seat and held him by the neck.
“If anything happens to my daughter no cell will keep you safe from me,” Jack Bauer growled at the twenty-six-year old. Jack released Mac and exited the room.
“Son of a bitch,” Ingram mumbled to himself. ‘I’ve got to get out of here.’
XXXXX
Jack led a search of Ingram’s residence. They couldn’t find anything concrete save for a secured desktop which was removed and taken back to CTU along with disks and thumb drives. Audrey and Jenkins would have a look at it but they said it would take time before they had anything.
While Jack was out, Ingram worked up a plan to escape. The room he was in had a camera but no two-way mirror. His security card was taken from him but there was another one to his right all he had to do was… “Ermph,” Mac grunted and doubled over as if in pain.
“What’s wrong?” The guard asked, falling for it.
“I got shot in the vest earlier today,” Ingram admitted. “I’m fine, it’s just beginning to aggravate. I got hit right in the…” WHAM! The guard never saw it coming. Ingram drove his shoulder into the guard’s sternum and knocked him against the wall. The blow knocked him out cold. “…sternum.” As the guard fell to the floor, unconscious, Mac sat down and removed the guard’s keys. After un-cuffing himself he took the guard’s keys, tazer and pass card. He then quickly exited the room and holding unit before the alarm could sound.
The quickest way out would be through the entrance the TAC teams used. He entered the tactical unit just as an alarm was sounded. He found a fuse box in a nearby maintenance closet and killed the main power to the area. He ran into the TAC garage, shot a uniformed guard with the tazer and got into a TAC Hummer. After getting the keys he quickly opened the garage door manually. As he got back into the hummer a security team burst into the garage. As they ran towards the vehicle he gunned the engine and raced out of CTU. ‘Mac’ Fuchs was now on the run.
XXXXX
When Jack got back to CTU Manning and Audrey were already trying to track the stolen Hummer. “How’d he get out?” Jack demanded to know.
“He knocked out his guard and stole a TAC car,” Audrey informed him.
“There,” Curtis pointed on the screen. “He’s stopped. Get a TAC team…”
“Wait,” Audrey interrupted. “The signal’s gone.”
XXXXX
In a grungy alley Ingram unplugged the power source for the GPS tracker. He closed the door to the vehicle and crossed the street. After walking through another alley, stepping over half- and fully drunk bums he crossed another street and into another alley. Halfway down the alley he climbed onto a fire escape and made his way to a third floor apartment, his apartment.
The search team had already come and gone but he couldn’t stick around long in case someone was watching his place. “I can’t believe those guys,” he groaned as he stepped through the ransacked apartment. “They even knocked over all my Godzilla DVD’s.” He figured correctly that they’d take his computer, disks, and files. That was a given. They would also take anything they thought would be considered ‘sensitive’. But he knew they would miss what he came here to get.
His sixteen inch TV sat on a synthetic wood stand. In the glass double doors below it were the cable box, DVD player and surround sound system. Between the glass doors and the top of the stand was a ten inch by four inch ‘decorative’ rectangle. It looked like a drawer but didn’t open like one; at least to the casual search team. Using a butter knife from the kitchen Mac depressed a hidden mechanism on the bottom of the rectangle. This released the concealed drawer. Mac opened it up to find that his possession was still there: a parkerized Springfield Armory 1911-A1.
His Smith and Wesson was his issue pistol at CTU but this forty-five caliber sidearm was his. He pulled the five inch barreled firearm from the foam lined drawer and checked that the eight-round magazine was loaded. He grabbed a leather fanny pack and clipped it around his waist. He clipped a carbon fiber holster onto the pack’s belt and slid the weapon into it.
He then removed four more magazines and slipped them into the first pocket on the pack. He also removed a four inch long black cylinder and tucked it into the second pocket. After he retrieved his personal firearm he grabbed an LED flashlight and exited his apartment the same way he came in and beat-feet back to the TAC Hummer. Now he had to find Kim.
XXXXX
“Those vehicles have armored vests and C4 explosive charges in their trunks,” Jack realized. “He could level a building if the charges are placed just right.” Manning’s phone rang. Ivan was on the phone asking for Ingram. Jack took it from Manning. “This is Bauer.”
“Your daughter is fine, Jack,” Ivan commented. “She has not been touched; yet.”
“I want to talk to her.” He heard shuffling feet and a soft voice cooed.
“Dad?” Kim spoke.
“Are you alright, Kim?”
“I’m scared, dad. What do they want?”
“I don’t know, sweetheart,” Jack said as the phone was pulled away from her.
“If you don’t want anything to happen to the girl you’ll bring yourself and Mac to the La Brea Tar pits on Wilshire.” The line went dead before it could be traced.
XXXXX
“What happens if Fuchs doesn’t show?” Marks asked Ivan.
“Doesn’t matter. Bauer will at least. If Mac shows we make a trade: Fuchs for the girl. Since we have his daughter, Jack won’t hesitate. If Mac doesn’t show; we’ll see.”
“If the girl dies we lose any control over CTU,” Marks commented.
“I know.” With the surprise of a bolt from the blue, gunfire erupted from outside the building.
4:59:59
The following takes place between 5:00 P.M. and 6:00 P.M.
Somehow the Mafia had found them. Ivan grabbed Kim and their group bolted down the stairs as their guards began exchanging shots with the Russians. The Russians, although they had surprise and numbers on their side, were not trained as well as the terrorists. Almost a dozen Russians were killed while only Ivan’s two bodyguards were killed before he and Marks escaped with Kim.
XXXXX
Jack drove to the tar pits but there was no sign of Ivan or Kim. As he waited he got a call from Jenkins. “I managed to pull a file off Ivan’s computer,” Jenkins informed him. “Nothing much just a record of payments; here’s the number.” He read it out for Jack who wrote it down. It wasn’t close to the numbers Ingram gave him earlier.
“Thanks.” Jack then called the bank he visited earlier and got an address for the account. It wasn’t the Landes residence. He waited around in case he was contacted.
XXXXX
Mac pulled off under a train bridge and contemplated his next move. ‘I’m missing something.’ He knew the answer to where he could find Kim was under his nose, in the palm of his hand but he couldn’t see it. He could try the Mafia but that wasn’t any insurance. Plus he needed to find Kim and Ivan before they could or Kim would be dead as well. But how? All he had to go on were a pair of numbers that didn’t match… ‘Wait,’ Mac thought as he spotted an LA map on the overhead visor.
He activated the GPS in the vehicle and inputted the ‘coordinates’; the first number on the paper had to be longitude and the second the latitude. “YES!” He declared as he got position in southern LA, in the middle of an industrial sector. “I’m coming Kim,” he said to the dimming light as he left the area.
XXXXX
Jack finally decided that he was given the cold shoulder and left the tar pits. ‘God damn that, Mac,’ he cursed Ingram. ‘If anything happens to Kim…’ His phone rang. “Bauer.”
“Jack, its Jenkins. We checked the address given by the bank. It’s an abandoned apartment building not far from the tar pits. I’m sending the address to your PDA now.”
“Yeah I got it, thanks.”
“Listen, there’s more.”
“What is it?”
“LAPD reports that a gang war was just fought on that property. It’s probably why they didn’t show at the Tar Pits. About a dozen people were killed. All male, so Kim is probably still alive. Most of them were Russian Mafia. But, two of them weren’t. We’re waiting on their identities from FBI and HOMSEC. Just thought you should know.”
“I’m on my way there to check it out.” He hung up and made for the apparent safe house.
XXXXX
He pulled off into an abandoned warehouse across from the riverside refinery. He went to the roof with a pair of binoculars and scouted the facility which ran along a small river with a pumping platform close to the river. The road that led past the front of the refinery crossed the river with a dingy bridge. Ingram saw that security was tight. There were about a dozen bad guys with submachine guns and automatic rifles patrolling the grounds. He could expect another dozen inside similarly armed. But where would they hold Kim? The most heavily guarded area he guessed.
He saw such security around a new building, a tin garage that looked temporary. Odd place to hold a hostage. The door to it opened and a man in a lab coat exited. Ingram zoomed in and saw more personnel working on some kind of device. They were wearing radiation protective gloves and handling small black rocks; Mac guessed to be impure, or depleted Uranium hence the lack of full protection. It didn’t look like they were building a precision device like a nuclear bomb by the way they just dumped the Uranium into cylinders surrounding the device. Then he saw more men loading bricks of what looked like plastic explosives into a central core. It definitely wasn’t a nuke. “Oh my god,” Ingram moaned. “It’s a dirty bomb.” And a big one too.
He saw motion from outside the fence and turned to see a pair of cars pull up to the main building. He zoomed in and in the fading light he could clearly see Ivan get out of the lead car. He also saw a blonde being held prisoner he assumed to be Kim. He saw she was bound and gagged but did not look hurt. He watched them take her into the main building. Through the windows he saw them put her in a second floor room. They put some kind of barricade on the windows and locked the door from the outside, leaving her bound and gagged inside with a guard.
XXXXX
“We missed Ivan, Kolya,” Kiryl said when he returned. “They had an escape plan ready.”
“Then how are we going to find him now?” Kolya demanded to know.
XXXXX
The place was a war zone. The bodies had already been bagged up and the discarded weapon collected; mostly AK47’s and pistols. Jack checked the building and property and found Kim’s purse in a red van in an adjacent alley way. She was definitely here and with no other sign of blood other than from the dead she probably was still alive. But they didn’t show at the tar pits because Mac wasn’t there. Now something was starting to click in Jack’s mind that something was off.
Back at CTU Chloe O’Brian had finally regained consciousness in the clinic. Audrey was in there with her now. Chloe wanted to get back to work but Audrey forbid it. She was too badly injured. She brought her up to date on what’s been happening. “Ingram is a mole?” Chloe was shocked. Audrey responded by showing her the infamous photo that implicated him. Chloe’s instincts immediately noticed something was wrong. “This picture is wrong.” She said as she looked more closely.
“What makes you say that? It came directly from Division.”
“I don’t know,” Chloe said as she examined the photograph. “But something is not right about it.” She began rubbing her temple as Audrey retrieved the photo. Although she didn’t want Chloe pushing herself too hard, she knew Chloe enough to know that her instincts with this kind of evidence were almost never wrong.
“I’ll have it checked,” Audrey said as she left. “Just in case.” As she was walking out of the clinic she was going over the ramifications in her head. ‘If she’s right…then someone fed us misinformation from the inside.’
XXXXX
There would be no way he could get in, grab Kim, and get out without both of them being killed. Ingram knew this as he walked back down to the car. He could sneak himself in under cover of darkness, with difficulty, but he could do it. The problem was once he had Kim it would be damn near impossible for them to get out without being spotted. He knew where the terrorists were holding her and he knew they had a weapon of mass destruction. He didn’t know the target but he didn’t need to. He needed to stop it from getting there no matter what.
As he sat in the car he thought about how he could increase the chances of getting Kim out. For some reason he couldn’t get her off his mind. Rescue Kim. Find Kim. Get Kim back. It was all about Kim. Sure he had to stop the bomb but it was still all about Kim. Maybe it was out of his respect for Jack. Maybe it was because of his nature to save a helpless civilian. Or maybe…He thought back to his last conversation with her. Her smile, it was so innocent and humble. The smile was as innocent as she was. She did nothing to deserve this.
But how to get her out of there alive? How was he going to get her away from Ivan…? ‘That’s it,’ he realized as he recalled the attack on CTU. The Mafia wanted Ivan as much as he did. He recalled the places he might be able to find the Mafia and set off to get some reinforcements of his own. He knew he couldn’t go to CTU. They thought he was a traitor and wouldn’t trust him. But maybe he could still do that. Bring them to him as he went in. Still, he’d need the Mafia’s help getting him in and getting Kim out.
XXXXX
“Bauer,” Jack answered his phone. On the other end was Audrey.
“Jack, Ingram may be innocent,” she told him as she examined the photograph.
“What do you mean?”
“Chloe regained consciousness fifteen minutes ago. I showed her the photo of Mac and Bratchenko and she suspected that the photo may have been doctored by someone inside Division.”
“So Mac…”
“What if he’s telling the truth, Jack?”
“Oh, god. It was a ruse,” Jack realized as the truth slapped him right in the face. “They have a mole on the inside and used that to frame Mac. Distract part of our attention onto one of our own. Divide and conquer. We’ve been chasing an innocent man, Audrey.”
“I’m personally going over the photo with a fine tooth comb, Jack,” she said as she worked on the image on her computer. “You just get back here and we can still work this out, alright?” They hung up and Jack got back to his car.
“Damnit.” Jack swore to himself as he started the car and headed for CTU.
XXXXX
Audrey scanned the photograph into the computer and punched up the original on file. She compared both pictures and ran both through an enhancement program. Once run through she cut out and made more enhancements of several parts of the pictures. She focused on the persons in the picture; compared shadows, lighting and other factors. She also checked color shadings. Nothing was coming up until she nailed what must’ve clicked inside Chloe’s head.
The sunglasses Bratchenko were wearing, judging from the positions of Bratchenko and Mac there should be a reflection of Mac’s face, or at least his figure, in the glasses. There was none.
She then fine scanned and examined Mac’s figure in the picture. When completed she discovered that it had been cropped and pasted from a separate picture from an unrelated undercover operation a month after the Bratchenko picture had been taken. And the two events that were combined to make the forgery were nearly a thousand miles apart.
“This proves it,” Audrey said to herself as she saved the evidence and printed a copy. “Mac’s innocent.”
5:59:59
The following takes place between 6:00 P.M. and 7:00 P.M.
Jack returned to CTU and was received by a boat load of new intelligence from Ivan’s laptop. They had names of several of his clients most of whom were low level gangs and syndicates. But a few entries, recent ones, involved a Mr. Marks.
“We checked with FBI, CIA and NSA,” Audrey briefed Jack as they headed for his office. “Turns out ‘Mr. Marks’ is Herald J. Marks,” she laid the file on Jack’s table. “Freelance terrorist from England. He was involved with several bombings in France, Ireland and Bosnia before he disappeared. He’s suspected of working with Palestinian terrorists and Iraqi insurgents. No operations in our hemisphere to date. But, it looks like that may have changed.”
“Could Marks be working for Ivan Arkadeyevich?” Jack asked.
“No,” Audrey answered. “Both work as middle men it seems. They may be answering to a higher authority.”
“Who?”
“We don’t know. Ivan follows the money and Marks mostly seems to be hired out by rogue governments as far as we can guess.”
“So a foreign government may be involved in a plot to detonate a radioactive dirty bomb in LA?” Jack inquired regarding the evidence of radioactivity found at the Landes residence. Audrey nodded. “What about the photo? Was it doctored?”
“Yes,” Audrey affirmed as Curtis entered the office. “He’s clear as glass.”
“We’ve got to find Ingram, Curtis.” Jack said to his superior. “He’s the only hope of a lead we have.”
“Well the ‘evidence’ arrayed against him,” Curtis pointed to the now fraudulent photo on the desk, “is now confirmed to be a forgery that may be a little difficult Jack.”
“I know but it’s all we’ve got.”
“We’ve put an APB out on him and the stolen vehicle already but,” Audrey shook her head. “It seems like he’s disappeared without a trace.”
“I should’ve been thinking more clearly,” Jack said. “I should’ve asked for confirmation on the photo before I…I was just so angry that Kim had been taken hostage. And now…”
“We’ll find her, Jack,” Audrey reminded him. “Or Ingram will. He doesn’t seem like the type that gives up.”
XXXXX
The shop looked worse on the outside than on the inside. It was an electronics store along the same vein as a Radioshack, though less tidy and lower in quality. Still it didn’t seem to be doing too bad. He walked up to the clerk, whose head had to weigh twice as much as normal from all the metal in his ears, nose and lips. “You don’t happen to know where I can find a Mr. Bratchenko, do you.” He asked casually.
“Yeah,” the clerk whose name was Jay on his tag. “He’s the owner.”
“Is he in? Can I speak with him?”
“Why do you need to see him?” Jay asked more nervously. Ingram showed his forty-five under his shirt to the clerk.
“This good enough reason?” He smirked.
“Uh, I-I’ll sh-show you where he is.”
“Thank you,” he was polite enough to say. The clerk, now sweating bullets the size of the one’s in the 1911, lead him into the back room where two men in suits were having a nervous discussion.
“Jay!” The senor most man, Bratchenko Ingram guessed shouted. “I told you not to bring anyone back here!”
“He-he has…” Jay stuttered.
“Mr. Bratchenko?” Mac stepped forward. “I’m a Federal Agent with CTU.”
“You better have a warrant,” Bratchenko barked.
“I’ve got something better,” Mac smiled. “A proposition.”
XXXXX
The device was finally ready. It was loaded into a white commercial van and the final plans for the attack were briefed to those who would be going to ensure it occurred.
Kim sat all alone in her ‘cell’ on the second floor. The guard watching her kept eyeballing her in a very lecherous way. He was clearly undressing her with his eyes. Kim had been held hostage before but she more terrified now than before because there was a terrorist who was getting excited looking at her locked in the same room with him. A knock on the door and the rattling of keys signaled that someone was entering. It was Ivan.
“How are we doing Kim?” He asked as he removed the tape from her mouth.
“Why are you holding me?” She asked him. “Just let me go.”
“We will. Soon enough.” Ivan looked over at the guard. “You’ll just have to be patient.” Kim didn’t know if he was talking to the guard or her. But she feared the worst. Before he left Ivan put the tape back over Kim’s mouth and put a blindfold over her eyes.
XXXXX
Bratchenko never expected this. “You’re serious?” He asked the agent.
“As a heart attack,” Mac replied as they stood in the alley-way behind the store with Kiryl watching from the loading platform behind them. “I know you want Ivan dead. So do I. I assume you’ve heard the phrase ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend’?”
“Of course…comrade.”
“Then you can understand why I’m coming to you.”
“Why not ask your friends at CTU?”
“Someone framed me. Made it look like I was working for you.”
“But I’ve never seen you before.”
“Tell that to my boss,” Mac replied. “He threatened to kill me if…”
“If what, comrade?”
“The real reason I’m doing this is personal. Ivan kidnapped my boss’s daughter to keep us, more or less me, under control. My boss holds me responsible for it. Now with being framed as a traitor and blamed for her kidnapping…”
“I understand. You want to get her back.”
“Exactly. Hopefully I can provide them with enough reasonable doubt that they believe me to be innocent. But that’s very secondary. My first priority is getting her back. But the place the terrorists are holding her is heavily guarded. I can get in with no problem, but getting out is where I need help. How many men do you have?”
“Not many,” he admitted. “We tried to hit Ivan earlier but he had protection. Good protection; professionals. I lost most of my men in the attack.”
“Get as many as you can. Also, there is a tin shed at the site. Do NOT destroy it. Don’t even touch it. It’s got a very dangerous weapon inside and we don’t want it going off, understood?” He got a nod. “Get your men and meet me in the parking garage across the street. I’m going to be calling CTU and have their HAZMAT team ready to secure that shed. All I want from you is to help me get the girl out of there. You do that and I’ll help you kill Ivan.”
“I believe we have a deal, comrade.” They shook hands like businessmen and went their separate ways.
XXXXX
Further decryption of the laptop and analysis of the journals had proven fruitless at CTU. All their sources of leads had been drained. Their hands were now tied. In his office Jack prayed to God for a miracle that would bring his daughter back to him. “Please, God,” he pleaded, “help me. Send my daughter a guardian angel to rescue her from her captors.” As if on cue, his phone rang. After pausing for a few seconds and two more rings he picked it up. “Bauer,” he whispered into the receiver lowly.
“Listen fast, Jack,” it was Mac. He was speaking on the radio-phone in the Hummer. “I found the terrorists and where they’re holding Kim.” He spoke in rapid fire. “It’s an abandoned oil refinery in an industrial park on the south side. Its GPS coordinates match those two numbers I found at the Landes residence. I saw them take Kim inside. She’s not been harmed, Jack. Ivan is there as well. I’m on my way there right now to deal with them. There’s more. They’ve got a dirty bomb, Jack. That’s what Ivan was hired to do: smuggle the materials for it into the country. I don’t know what his target is or who hired him, but if you move fast enough and bring all the TAC teams you’ve got down on their ass and a HAZMAT team to secure a tin shed on the premises we can stop these bastards and get Kim back in one stroke. The shed is where the bomb is located.”
“I’ve got the numbers, Mac.” Jack said as he pulled the numbers up from his PDA. “I’ll have satellite imagery on it soon.”
“Jack. I don’t really care if you believe me but I’m not a traitor. I don’t care if you arrest me when this is over.”
“Mac-”
“In all honesty I’m not sure I’m coming out of this one alive. But if I die Ivan is going to join me in the grave. And, Jack,” he paused and looked out at the setting sun thinking it may be the last one he ever sees, “I swear to you on my immortal soul that you’ll get your daughter back alive. Even if it’s the last thing I do.” And he hung up before Jack could admit that he now knows he’s innocent.
Instead Jack set the phone down and quickly got the coordinates of the refinery and bolted from his office. He quickly briefed Audrey and Curtis who gave approval for Jack to take four teams to the site.
“Get moving, Jack,” Curtis ordered. “Take four teams with the choppers. I’ll have the HAZMAT unit waiting for your go ahead to move in.” While Jack was gearing up Curtis and Jenkins noticed that the GPS tracker in the stolen hummer had been reactivated.
XXXXX
In the parking garage, Bratchenko arrived with one four door sedan and three of his men, including Kiryl, all of whom were involved in the attack on CTU. Mac put a fresh armored vest on over his t-shirt and strapped a six inch commando dagger onto his right calf. He also gave the explosive charges to Bratchenko. “Use these to distract Ivan’s men. And remember,” He reminded his temporary ally, “no damage to the shed. You’ll know it when you see it. It’s the only thing shiny on the property.”
“Of course, comrade,” Kolya nodded. “Once you’ve signaled us that you’ve got the girl we’ll attack.”
“Then let’s go kick some ass.” They loaded up in the two vehicles and drove off looking for a fight.
6:59:59
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” –Edmund Burke.
The following takes place between 7:00 P.M. and 8:00 P.M.
Jack Bauer led the TAC teams to the roof where they loaded up on four UH1 helicopters. They took off in record time and while three of them flew towards the coordinates provided by Ingram the one Jack was in followed the homing beacon in Mac’s vehicle. He knew he turned it back on for a reason. Perhaps he would get Kim to that vehicle and use it to get her out of there.
“Curtis, this is Jack,” he spoke over the radio as his MP5 dangled around his neck. “We’re tracking Mac’s car.”
“Roger, Jack,” Curtis replied. “Look’s like it just entered the industrial park he told you about. He was right, Jack. Those numbers match the coordinates perfectly and judging from infrared satellite there’s a lot of activity going on there. But there’s no active evidence of any radiation.”
“So they could’ve moved the bomb already?”
“Maybe, we don’t know. But I think we’ve located Kim’s position in the main building on the second floor.” Curtis nodded over to Jenkins. “We’re uploading the map to your PDA now.”
“Thanks I’ve got it.”
XXXXX
Mac parked the Hummer in the warehouse and he and the Russians dismounted. “You see those windows on the second floor?” Bratchenko nodded. “When you see a red light crash the party.”
“No problem.”
“Oh, and make sure nothing happens to my wheels, okay?”
XXXXX
Inside her world of cold darkness Kim was becoming more panicked as she heard the guard pacing around her. She could feel his lecherous eyes all over her and thought that at any moment he would rape her.
Mac, using a wire cutter from the Hummer, cut a hole in the fence close to a utility shed. He crawled from the shed along some pipes that led right past an un-guarded door way. Thankfully whatever power was running to the building was minimal and the corridors were sparsely lit and the bulbs that did light the halls blinked randomly. He was able to get up the stairs to the second floor without being heard or seen.
Down to his right he found the room he assumed Kim was in. No guard was outside so he presumed there was one inside. He pressed an ear against the door and heard the sickening sound of a woman groaning in disgust. Fueled by utter rage he screwed the suppressor onto his 1911, stood up and prepared to kick the wooden door in.
Inside her dark world Kim struggled against the groping of her attacker. She moaned and screamed as rough hands tried to force open her shirt and pants. “Calm down, you bitch,” her attacker growled as he slapped her. “You’ll enjoy it whether you like it or-” From out of the blue she heard a door fly open. She heard what sounded like twin bursts of air and suddenly the whole weight of her attacker fell on top of her followed by a sound of pieces of metal falling onto the floor.
The weight was removed forcefully and she heard a loud thud on the floor. She suddenly felt another pair of hands grasp her shoulders. She flailed and screamed against them but the grip held firm. “Kim, Kim calm down!” A familiar voice called to her from the world beyond her blindfold. “It’s me, Kim.” Her blindfold was pulled down from her eyes and her gaze met the most comforting face she could have ever hoped to see. Brown hair and brown/hazel eyes adorned the head and she knew who it was. Her gag was removed and she breathed a much needed sigh of relief.
“Mac,” she exhaled. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“CTU is on the way.” He cut the duct tape binding her hands and was about to stand when she threw her arms around his neck. “Its okay, Kim.” He patted the back of her head gently and stroked her hair for a few seconds. “I’m getting you out of here.” He retrieved the guard’s gun, a Walther P-38, and moved to the window and gave three flashes from a red flashlight. “Let’s get you out of here before it gets too hot.”
XXXXX
“That’s the signal!” Bratchenko announced. “Kiryl!” An explosion erupted from the opposite end of the compound destroying a series of parked vans. Another explosion tore a cluster of fuel barrels apart and sending three rocketing into the air. As the terrorists were drawn away from the front, Kolya and his men slipped into the compound through Mac’s entrance. The twin explosions however were too close to other flammable areas of the abandoned refinery and soon the fires began to spread dangerously.
“Look!” The pilot of Jack’s helicopter called out as a ball of flame shot into the sky.
“Oh my god,” Jack moaned.
As Mac got Kim outside Kolya and his men were in a firefight with terrorists firing from inside the building. As he escorted Kim to the hole in the fence bullets impacted the ground and pipes behind them. When they got to the hole he handed her the Walther. “Across the road is a warehouse,” he pointed down the fence line. “You’ll find a CTU Hummer inside. Get out of here, Kim.”
“What about you?” She asked as he turned away.
“I’ve got to find Ivan. And stop them from moving a bomb. The Hummer has a GPS tracker; CTU will know where it is and they’ll find you. Now go.”
“No, I want to stay with you!” she argued.
“Kim, I’ve got to go back in.” He said looking into her eyes. “I’m probably not going to survive this. But I swore to your father that I’d get you back alive even if it killed me.” Her expression turned to that of fear. “I have to do this Kim.”
“But, Mac-” Kim argued.
“Ivan and his cohorts cannot succeed, Kim. I have to stop them.” The look in her eyes pleaded with him not to go. “You cannot stay here, Kim. Go. Go to your father. You’re the only family he has left.” She finally nodded and as he turned to go back inside she put a hand on his shoulder. She stroked his cheek and quickly gave him a soft kiss on the opposite cheek and started off into the woods. Ingram watched her slink into the woods for a few seconds before he turned back looking for trouble.
XXXXX
“This is chopper one,” the lead chopper reported in as more fountains of flame arched into the post-dusk sky. “We’re setting down on the roof.”
“Chopper two, we’re fast roping into the train yard.”
“Chopper three, we’re touching down in the rear pump area.”
“Pilot,” Jack said stepping forward. “Put us on the roof of that warehouse! That’s where the GPS signal is coming from.” The pilot nodded and maneuvered for the building.
Down on the ground Mac regrouped with Kolya and his team. “Ivan is probably inside,” Mac said as he led them back inside the building. Kolya motioned for them to take the lower level while they searched the second floor. On the fourth floor the CTU TAC team engaged with the panicked terrorists inside. On the opposite end another team crossed the train yard and was busy taking the tin shed. Meanwhile the third team was engaged in a firefight with the main contingency of gunmen and Jack led his team down from the warehouse roof to the CTU Hummer leaving a pair of snipers on the roof to provide cover when they crossed the road.
When Mac and Kolya reached the second floor they were met by a group of terrorists who were rapidly dropped by Mac’s pistol and Kolya’s AK. Down the hall, Mac saw Ivan running off. “There he is!” Mac shouted as he and Kolya ran down the hall. When they entered the room where Ivan had rushed into they found it over looked a series of pumps. On the first floor Kolya’s men were exchanging fire with more terrorists. Ivan fired an Uzi over his shoulder at his pursuers as explosions from pockets of fuel exploded from the floor below. Kolya was hit in the legs but Mac was uninjured. Above them some more terrorists opened up on them but Kolya held them back with his rifle.
“Go!” He shouted to Mac who took off after Ivan as he exchanged fire with the enemies below the catwalk. He had to reload halfway. As he neared the end of the catwalk he dropped a pair of terrorists and reloaded his pistol as he jumped over the corpses. He kicked in a door to a short hallway as he continued the pursuit.
XXXXX
Kim darted across the road and towards the warehouse as a spotlight shone down on her from one of the CTU choppers. A small war was still being waged inside the refinery compound behind her. “Federal Agents,” the chopper called to her as she ran across the road. “Stop where you are! Drop your weapon and put your hands on your head!” She burst through the doors and into the warehouse to be greeted by half-a-dozen MP5’s.
“DROP THE WEAPON!” Several voices barked at her as she froze in her tracks.
“Hold your fire!” Jack Bauer ordered as he rushed forward. “Kim!”
“Dad!” She rushed into his arms shedding tears of joy. “Mac saved me.”
“I know, Kim,” he grabbed a pair of the TAC members. “Get her away from here.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Dad, Mac went back inside after Ivan. We can’t let him die!”
XXXXX
Mac tracked Ivan far from the gunfire to a pipe laden roof. On the way he defended himself from more terrorists leaving him with only one full magazine on his belt and another loaded in the grip. He trained the venerable .45 caliber pistol across the roof in one hand and an LED flashlight in the other. He left the suppressor on the weapon to increase its accuracy. “Here Ivan, Ivan, Ivan,” he called to his nemesis. “There’s no way out. You might as well come out and fight, comrade.”
“Gladly,” Ivan said before he appeared from behind and fired a ten millimeter pistol in Mac’s direction. Mac dropped below the rounds and returned fire he then losing three rounds at Ivan who dodged them ducking behind a vent. He rolled to his right and sat up behind a large cluster of broken pipes. The gunfire inside the building and over the entire compound began to die down.
“Federal Agents,” the choppers overhead broadcasted. “Thrown down your weapons; you’re all under arrest!”
“You hear that, Ivan?” Mac called out as they played cat and mouse on the roof, trading occasional pot shots. The CTU choppers buzzed the building occasionally shining their lights onto the roof. “It’s over, buddy.”
“Not for me, Mac,” Ivan replied as he reloaded. “But it will be for you.”
“Maybe. But I’ll be taking you down with me.” He darted from behind the pipes and fired on Ivan as he ducked behind another vent. He dumped his empty magazine and slapped his last eight rounds into the weapon. “Maybe we should draw! You know! High noon?”
“You always were a cowboy!” Ivan shouted as he fired the last of his ammo at Mac. Mac turned around and fired at Ivan as he darted behind many vents. When he was out of ammo he sprinted after the smuggler. As he neared the Russian as CTU chopper shone it’s searchlight onto them.
He caught him just as he reached the edge of the roof. He slammed into him so hard they both fell off the roof and onto a catwalk leading to a platform adjacent to the building. The platform and the pipes leading to it were already starting to burn as more explosions erupted inside the building.
XXXXX
Jack and his team ran along the outside of the building as the surviving terrorists were brought out from the building and frisked. “The building is clear sir!” The leader of one of the teams shouted to Bauer. “The place is unstable and could explode any minute!”
“No sign of Agent Fuchs?”
“No sir!”
“Sir,” one of his team pointed to a burning platform. Jack looked up and, bathed in the spotlights of two choppers he saw Mac fighting in hand to hand combat with Kim’s kidnapper.
Ivan was wielding a four foot long, one inch steel pipe while Ingram held his knife in his right hand. He ducked under a swing from Ivan, bounded off the railing and kicked him outside the head. Ivan stumbled back and swung the pipe around knocking once more. Mac responded by grasping the pole and twisted it out of Ivan’s hands. The two got up close and personal as they traded kicks, knees and punches.
At one point, as Mac tried to stab Ivan in the gut Ivan took hold of his wrists and gradually twisted the knife free and forced the blade free. But Mac was not out of the fight. He pummeled Ivan in the face as they fell onto the catwalk. The platform was rocked as the pipes connecting it to the building began exploding. They grappled on the catwalk, pummeling each other’s face and gut as the platform shook and began to heat up.
“MAC!” Jack yelled to the younger agent. “Get out of there!”
Mac didn’t hear him. Instead he and Ivan got back on their feet and resumed their duel. Ivan fought in a boxing manner and Mac fought with a modified form of Tae Kwon Do. Mac kicked Ivan back against a series of pipes. By this time, both were bleeding from their eyebrows, noses and lips. Mac was also cut along his right eyebrow which would probably scar when it healed. “End of the line for you, Ivan,” Mac said as he picked up a three inch pipe. As he went to bash Ivan the Russian opened a vent that loosed extremely hot steam right into Mac’s face. Mac howled as the steam scalded his face and neck, dropping the pipe. Ivan picked up the pipe and slammed it into Mac’s gut and back, damaging the Kevlar vest he was wearing.
Mac fell to his knees and as Ivan went to bash his head in Mac delivered a sweep kick to Ivan’s legs. Ivan fell backwards onto a broken pipe that burst through his back and chest cleaving his heart in two. Mac rose back to his feet and looked down as Ivan’s eye’s glazed over and rolled back into his head.
An explosion rocked the platform and the flames began to rage. The stairs to the ground below broke away leaving Mac without an escape. Except for…Jack looked on as the platform exploded sending burning oil into the air. The fireball was large enough to see across the city. “MAC!”
7:59:59
The following takes place between 8:00 P.M. and 9:00 P.M.
As fire crews arrived to get the flames under control, Jack met his daughter at a bridge over a small nearby river. A wool blanket was wrapped over her shoulders as she lacked warm clothing. “Where’s Mac?” Was Kim’s first question.
“He…he fulfilled his promise, Kim,” Jack said holding his daughter’s shoulders. “To the letter.”
“No,” she whimpered, “no he can’t be dead…he can’t.” She buried her face into her father’s chest as she sobbed heavily. Word of Macs death hit harder than she thought.
Water shot into the sky as a bruised and bloodied head burst from below the waterline. Mac shook the disorientation from his head and swam for the shore at the base of a bridge. He pulled his cold, sore body onto the mud and uphill and onto the road. He let out a few coughs and he turned his head to see two familiar people embracing on the bridge.
Kim looked in the direction of the coughs and saw someone return from the dead. “MAC!” She screamed as she burst from her father’s arms, let the blanket fall from her body and nearly tackled Ingram.
“Ahh,” Ingram grunted in pain. “Easy, easy,” he pleaded. “I’m a little banged up.” Kim let him go and kissed his cheek again.”
“Thank you,” she said to him again. Mac smiled his reply.
“Mac,” Jack said approaching the vindicated agent.
“Ivan’s dead,” he said as he held his aching side. “I broke his heart.” Ingram looked straight into Jack’s eyes. “I won’t resist arrest, Jack,” Mac said standing up straight.
“Arrest?” Kim asked looking over at her father.
“I’m not arresting you, Mac. We know you’re innocent.” That surprised, Mac.
“You didn’t think he had anything…?” Kim argued.
“Not anymore,” Jack explained. “The photo was a fake.”
“Hell, I could’ve told ya that,” Mac replied.
“I know. I’m sorry.” Mac just shook his head.
“Did you guy’s find the bomb yet?”
“No.” Was Jack’s reply. “The bomb is gone.”
XXXXX
In a lavish office man huddled over documents before he left for the night; but it would not be the end for this night. His number two entered the office with urgent news. “Marks’ base has been attacked by CTU.” He informed his boss in their native language.
“What?” The man demanded to know. “What’s the status of the device?”
“It’s en route but we should assume…”
“We should assume that their mission is compromised. Activate the backup plan, immediately.”
“It’ll take some time to activate.”
“Then I suggest you get to it.”
XXXXX
The shed was devoid of any explosive device. As Kim was taken back to CTU Jack and the ‘acquitted’ Ingram entered the shed. They were approached by the senior TAC member. “Agents, we found these,” he handed them blueprints for what appeared to be an airship. The prints were partially burned in an attempt to destroy them.
“What does this mean?” Jack asked as he handed Mac the prints.
“What’s this?” Mac pointed at the bottom of the paper. It read ‘odyear’ as the only intelligible print. “’Goodyear’?”
“The Goodyear blimp!” Jack shouted as both of them bolted from the shed. “That’s where the bomb is.”
“It’s going to be flying over the bowl game,” Mac said as they ran for a chopper sitting on the roadway. “If that bomb goes off it’ll kill thousands, if not millions!” The pilot got the bird up in five minutes. On their way to the stadium Jack called CTU.
XXXXX
“It’s Bauer,” Jack’s voice echoed on the speaker phone. “The bomb is being placed on the Goodyear blimp! We believe the target is the bowl game!”
“All the TAC teams are at the refinery!” Manning shouted.
“So sue me!” Mac shouted. “But those bastards had a freaking army!” Jack put his hand on his subordinate’s shoulders.
“We’re sending a team to the airport in hopes they can stop it before it takes off.”
“Likelihood of that happening?” Curtis asked the agents.
“Low,” Mac answered. “They could have had as much as an hour head start. That blimp could be in the air already.”
“Then how are you planning on stopping that bomb?”
“I don’t know yet, I’m making this up as I go. But when I figure something out,” he advised, “It’s gonna be cool.”
“We’ll stop it, Curtis,” Jack assured his superior. “Just make sure Kim is alright when she arrives.”
XXXXX
Indeed the airship was in the air by the time the chopper took off. The original crew was jumped from behind and their bodies left in the hanger where airport security found them. Although it was already in the air, the chopper was faster and the agents managed to catch up with the airship.
“Have a plan yet?” Jack asked Mac.
“Sort of,” Ingram replied. “But you’re not going to like it.” He laid it out for Jack as they approached.
“They’re going to know we’re coming,” Jack said.
“Yeah but there shouldn’t be too many of them inside. I say that as we’re moving down through the ship to the control deck the chopper flies in the blimp’s path and try to divert it.” At that moment Jack’s phone rang.
“Bauer.”
“It’s Manning,” Curtis answered. “Two things: first, Kim just arrived. I’ll have the doctor take a look at her. Second we’ve confirmed that Ivan Arkadeyevich was among the dead at the refinery along with Kolya Bratchenko.”
“Bratchenko?” Jack asked as he looked over at Mac who shrugged.
“I needed someone to create a distraction so I could get Kim out,” Mac answered Jack.
“Thanks, Curtis.” He hung up. “Nice thinking with the Mafia.”
“You mean you’re not pissed?” Jack shook his head.
“You improvised. That’s good in an agent.”
“And what about my current plan?” Mac asked as they neared the airship.
“I’ll answer that tomorrow.”
XXXXX
The calls were made, the information distributed and the targets offered to the groups. All the ‘corporation’ needed to do was sit back and let the chips fall where they may. Once they fell they would begin phase two of the backup plan. There was only the question of where Marks was now.
XXXXX
The cable was hooked onto the harness Mac was wearing and he now dangled beneath the chopper which was racing at high speed. “This has been one hell of a first day on the job!” Ingram shouted into his mic.
“Welcome to my life,” Jack replied. As Mac struggled to maintain his body’s stability in the high winds with goggles wrapped around his head Jack guided the pilot into position. At a speed of nearly fifteen miles per hour Mac slammed onto the top of the blimp with a loud ‘oomph’ from him. But he managed to grasp a handrail by the hatch and pull himself up. He opened the hatch, climbed in and attached the cable to the rail so Jack could slide down to him.
“I got ya,” Mac said as he helped Jack into the ship. He disconnected the cable and the chopper maneuvered around to distract the terrorists.
XXXXX
Back at CTU Kim Bauer was shown to the conference room where a makeshift evidence storage area had been set up. The dust from the explosion earlier in the day had all been cleared away along with most of the rubble. On the table were several items taken from the refinery: half-burned documents, electronics equipment and even computer hard drives. Audrey was inside helping the technicians sort through them.
“Kim,” she said when she noticed her. “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” she replied. “I was…almost raped though.” Audrey sighed in annoyance.
“Let’s get you to the clinic and have you checked out anyway, okay?” Kim nodded and the two headed that way.
“Mac saved me,” Kim said as they left the room. “He also killed Ivan.”
“Are you holding up okay?”
“I will be…I…I was engaged to ‘Barry’. I guess,” she looked down at the floor. “The way I see it, Barry died when he shot at us in the mall.”
“Audrey,” Manning said rushing over to her. “Ingram and Jack have just boarded the airship.”
“How’d they get aboard?” Audrey asked with Kim listening in from behind her.
“You don’t want to know.” They turned to watch the feed from the CTU chopper as it flew along side the airship.
XXXXX
‘Well,’ Jack told himself as they moved lower into the ship, ‘at least we got on aboard in one piece.’
“Where do you suppose they put the bomb?” Mac asked the senior agent.
“From what I saw at the shed it would’ve been too heavy and too large for them to put high up,” Jack replied.
“I agree. It’s probably on the control deck with the pilot.” He looked about. “But where are the…”
“HALT!” A voice shouted from the opposite end of the catwalk. The two agents turned to see three terrorists charging them. Jack drew his pistol but before any shots could be fired Mac dropped down onto the terrorists from above. He kicked them back and stood between Jack and them.
“Go!” Mac yelled to Jack as the terrorists got back on their feet. They weren’t going to use firearms inside the blimp. The bullets might damage the structure of the ship and cause it to crash before it reached the target. They wanted it to go off; that was the problem with martyrs.
As Jack made his way to the control deck Mac fought off the three terrorists in hand to hand combat. Although he was out-numbered he used the rigid confines of the catwalks and the ships structure to his advantage. Due to the restrictions placed on the fighters the terrorists could not maneuver to surround Ingram. Mac used girders to block attacks and support him as he moved about the decks.
As he led the terrorists to the ‘bow’ of the balloon Mac picked up a think rope. When he reached the bow he spun around, looped the rope around the first terrorist’s neck, spun him around, delivered a back spin kick to the second terrorist, kicked the third in the groin and while the other two were distracted he tightened the rope on number one. And with a violent twist he snapped the terrorist’s neck; killing him.
XXXXX
Jack finally reached the control deck. On one side of the deck he saw the bomb. It was about the size of a desk and had cylinders filled with un-enriched Uranium attached to the sides. At the controls the pilot, he appeared to be European, guided the ship towards the stadium as he maneuvered to avoid the pesky CTU chopper. “Federal Agent!” Bauer shouted at the pilot. “Turn this ship around now!”
“Never!” The pilot shouted back with a French accent. “I will die first!” He quickly reached into his pocket and Jack fired a shot into his shoulder. The pilot fell to the ground and Jack approached. When he did he saw the dying terrorist pull out what looked like a remote. Before he expired he depressed the button, activating the timer on the bomb. “DAMNIT!” Jack cursed.
XXXXX
Number two was now holding Mac from behind in a Nelson. Number three had grabbed a fire axe and swung to attack but Mac kicked him away. Number three moved to resume the attack, but when the downward swipe landed Mac had twisted around and the axe smashed into the terrorist’s back. Quickly Mac spun around and delivered a powerful punch to the last terrorist’s face. He stumbled back and drew out a .38 caliber revolver. Mac ducked away as all six rounds were fired. Though the bullets missed their intended target they still ruptured two of the main ballast bladders.
Ingram rose up and in the same motion, removed the fire ax from the dead terrorist and imbedded the opposite pick blade into the gunman’s head. He removed the ax from the terrorist and proceeded to the control deck.
XXXXX
“Okay, Jack,” a bomb expert was called into the control room to assist Jack in defusing the bomb. “I don’t have a full sketch of the bomb, but we should still be ale to do this.”
“Okay, hold on,” he switched his cell phone to speaker and set it on the floor so he’d have both hands free. “Go ahead.”
“All right, there should be ten large cylinders along the outside. About the size of fire extinguishers.”
“I see them.”
“Okay, do NOT touch those. You may get radiation sickness.”
“Just tell what I need to touch,” Jack said as he looked at the timer on the device. “Less than ten minutes left.”
“Alright, do you see the explosives?”
“No they’re inside the device. I can’t get to them.”
“Okay. Do you see the detonators?”
“No.”
“Anything that may be an initiator? Spark plugs? Receiver?”
“No, damnit! I do not see anything!”
“Okay hold on,” the technician looked over the schematics. “There should be a large box in the center towards the bottom on the device.”
“I see it.”
“Okay, open it up.” Jack searched for a tool kit and took out a Phillips screwdriver.
“It’s open!” Jack answered after he removed the front plate. “Three minutes!”
“There should be three wires inside, sir,” the technician said looking at the half-charred plans. “You need to cut the red wire.”
“Damnit!” Jack swore as he looked at the wires. “They’re all red!”
“Oh, no.” The technician groaned. “You’ll have to find the one leading from the power source. It should be the one on the left.”
“Should? Is it or is it not?”
“Without complete plans I can’t be sure, Jack.” The picture was burned between the box and the power source. The expert couldn’t be precisely sure which one it was.
“What if I cut them all?”
“NO! If you cut the wrong one the bomb will explode!”
“So how do you know the left wire is the righ-correct one?” Jack argued. At that moment, Mac entered with a bloody fire axe and droplets of blood covering his face and clothes.
“Then you’ll have to find the power source and disconnect it from the unit. With the plans I have it should be large.” Jack looked all over the device but couldn’t find anything.
“I don’t see one!” He looked at the clock. “Thirty seconds!” Mac looked over the unit as well and noticed a think cable leading from the device through a portion of the floor that had been removed. He examined the other end and saw that it was hooked up to the electrical supply from the ship; crudely but it still fed power.
“Stand back, Jack!” Mac said as he brought the axe up.
“What are you-?”
“HYAAAH!” Ingram brought the axe down so hard that it not only severed the power cable but broke through the wooden floor as well. Jack’s eyes happened to be on the digital clock when power was cut and the device shut down. The clock read nine seconds left before detonation.
“That’s it?” Jack asked. “That’s all we had to do was cut one cable?” Mac shrugged his response.
“Jack,” Manning called over the phone. “What’s going on?”
“The device has been neutralized,” he announced to cheers from CTU.
“We’re not out of the woods yet, Jack,” Ingram said.
“What do you mean?” The phone was still on and everyone at CTU, including Kim, heard the conversation.
“I think we’re flying a little below FAA regulations.” Mac pointed out the windows. The ship was falling closer and closer to the city below.
8:59:59
The following takes place between 9:00 P.M. and 10:00 P.M.
“Jack,” Audrey warned over the phone, “if that ship crashes hard the Uranium in the device could still kill hundreds.”
“There’s no avoiding it,” Jack said as he and Ingram fought to rapidly learn how to fly a blimp. “This thing is going to crash.” He looked out the window to see the buildings getting closer.
“Jack,” Mac said bringing over a map of the city. “We’re not far from a beach.” He pointed it out on the map. “The sand will soften the impact. If we level this beast out before it hits we can keep the device intact.” Mac then moved over to the control station and Jack went to the power controls. “Okay,” Mac said. “Let’s see. Turn left!” He pulled left on the controls and Jack tried to control the flow of power to the engines to get it to turn sharper. “WHOA!” Mac shouted as he fought to maintain the airship’s stability. “Easy Jack!”
“You take it easy!”
“GAH!” ‘This day has been utterly ridiculous.’ Down on the streets below and from the stadium a half-mile away people knew something was wrong by observing the insane maneuvers of the Goodyear blimp. Within two minutes two news channels, one sports, the other local, had their cameras fixed on the out of control airship soon to be followed by the major news networks.
XXXXX
“Damnit,” Manning swore as he punched up another screen showing the split channels broadcasting the ship. “The media is already onto this.”
“There’s the beach!” Jack pointed it out.
“Turn on the landing lights!” Mac shouted.
“What the hell for?” Jack shouted.
“So I can see the ground before we hit it!” Jack nodded and turned all the exterior lights on. Meanwhile the CTU chopper raced ahead and using its searchlight and loudspeaker warned any civilians on the beach to evacuate immediately. About three dozen college students attending a rave on the beach panicked and fled up the slopes to the street as the blimp appeared to be heading for their bon fire.
“Leveling off!” Mac called out as he pulled back on the controls. “Cut the engines!” Jack did so and the ship began to drag along the relatively loose sand. They smashed right into the raging bonfire which set fire to the ship. “SHIT!” The ship shuddered and was threatening to roll over.
“Damn,” Jack cursed. “We’ve got to get out!” He and Mac stumbled on the shaking deck as they made for the emergency hatch in the rear of the compartment.
“Go Jack!” Mac shouted as he fell to the deck. Jack jumped onto the sand and rolled as the partially burning blimp continued to glide across the sand. As soon as Mac reached the hatch the blimp turned sharply to the left and rolled. The starboard engines caught fire and exploded just as Mac jumped free. The aviation fuel inside soon caught flame and burst into a fireball high enough to cause the CTU chopper to turn sharply to avoid flying through the flames.
“MAC!” Jack yelled as he ran towards the burning wreckage. He found Mac lying on his back and coughing through the smoke from the fire. Both were hoping that the smoke didn’t contain any radiation.
XXXXX
After a quick sweep of the agents with a Geiger counter by the chopper pilot found that they were not in any danger and no radioactive material was in the smoke the agents were called back to CTU. A van transporting a HAZMAT team arrived to secure the device and area. Soon after that the news trucks started swarming the site like starving vultures to a half devoured water buffalo.
Back at CTU Kim breathed relief along with the entire staff. It was beginning to look like the crisis was over. However, the Deputy District Supervisor, Lorenzo Camparelli arrived saying he was going to be supervising all activities. “What’s going on, Lorenzo?” Curtis asked the superior who he reported to everyday. “The crisis is contained and the device has been neutralized.”
“NSA has picked up chatter going between several cells believed to be operating in the LA area,” Camparelli replied. “CTU is going to be getting a little busier and more proactive with me in charge now.”
“What?” Audrey asked.
“We’re going after these cells before they have a chance to strike,” Lorenzo replied. “If you have a problem with that you can resign now.”
XXXXX
When they walked into the control room the agents were met with light applause. Of the two agents Jack looked remarkably clean compared to the beat up, bruised, bloodied, mud stained and downright dirty Ingram. His clothes and vest were tattered and caked with mud and sand. Sand was dominating his hair and was in the cuts along his arms and face as well as his nostrils and ears. His pants were torn up and a composite color of brown canvas, dried blood, caked sand, clay mud, oil grease and God knows what else. His once white shirt was now stained with oil grease and was charred at the ends of the sleeves. The hair on the back of his head was singed by the fires from the explosion at the refinery and airship and the right side of his face was red from the steam that was blasted in his face.
Simply put, he looked like shit.
“You look awful,” Kim said as she approached Mac.
“I can’t look good all the time,” he joked with her. He then spotted Lorenzo approaching them. ‘Oh, boy,’ He groaned inwardly. ‘Here we go.’
“While I say good job on stopping the attack, agents,” he said, “the job isn’t done yet. We’ve learned the locations of other terrorist cells in the city.” He then eyeballed Mac. “You’ve caused quite a lot of trouble on your first day, Mac.”
“Cut me some slack, Lorenzo,” Ingram shot back. “I just survived an airship crash. I’ve lost track how many times I’ve had a brush with death today.” He was shot in the chest, nearly got killed when his car crashed, almost had his head blown off a half-dozen times, barely escaped a pump platform explosion and now he survived the crash of a freaking blimp. He was not having a fun day.
“Get yourself to the clinic and get checked out,” Lorenzo ordered and Mac headed for the clinic. “Jack I want you to be ready to help take these cells down.”
“Yes, sir,” Jack answered. “Lorenzo, I request that, if he’s cleared by the doc, Mac join us.”
“Jack, things are going to heat up around here,” he pointed to the news feeds. “The media will be swarming the city once they learn of everything here. We can’t afford any screw ups on this Jack. I’m going to need experienced agents handling this.” And Lorenzo walked off leaving Jack fuming over the insult to his new protégé’s abilities.
XXXXX
Kim found Mac in the clinic getting a thorough looking over by the doctors. His shirt and pants were off and all he was wearing were green hospital pants with a set of dog tags dangling in the center on his chest. She entered the room as the doc stitched the cut over his eye. They had washed all the mud, sand and grease off his body and applied bandages to the cuts on his arms, adhesive ice packs were placed on his ribs and back and they gave him aspirin to keep the pain down. It was her first good look at his frame.
At first glance he looked to have a frail build. But a closer look revealed that his thin frame was actually quite well developed. He had fairly broad shoulders and the meat on his bones appeared to be virtually all sinewy muscle giving him a thin but muscled appearance with almost no body fat on his body.
“How are you holding up?” Mac asked Kim when he noticed her.
“I’m okay,” Kim responded. She overlooked his bare chest; which was very appealing to her. She saw the numerous scrapes, bruises, and scars on his body. “Do you get into weekly bar fights?”
“Close enough,” Mac replied with a light chuckle. “Actually I was in the Army before I got my degree and joined the Border Patrol.”
“What did you do in the Army?”
“I was a reconnaissance specialist. I frequently found my buddies and myself in very unfriendly territory surrounded by enemies.” He reflected on those days; scouting out hostile towns along the Iraqi border for insurgents in the pitch black of night without knowing if the next block hid an ambush or just a bunch of innocent families just trying to sleep, protracted firefights pitting M4’s and grenade launchers against AK47’s and RPG’s. “I also did a few hostage rescues of kidnapped journalists. And now I can add a line to my resume stating that I survived an airship crash.” Kim smiled a bit and chuckled.
“I like your sense of humor.” She said admiringly.
“Where I come from the only other option is going insane.”
“Are you sure that hasn’t happened?” She shot back. Mac pointed casually at her with a smile on his face.
“Touché,” he purred. “That’s what I’m talking about. You’re a quick learner. Before you know it-AH-HAH!” He jumped when the doctor put a very cold stethoscope on his back. “You’ll be giving me a run for my money.” Kim couldn’t help but smile at his comical interaction with the doctor.
XXXXX
Lorenzo was briefing Jack, Audrey and Curtis over the new proactive strategy to take these cells out before they could activate. However, as the briefing continued, it had already begun. An unidentified terrorist group fired a surface to air missile was fired at an airliner as it approached LAX. The missile, due to its poor reliability, missed the target and the FAA was already diverting flights to other areas. Airport security and LAPD pursued the suspects in several vehicles until one group holed up inside a telemarketing company resulting in a hostage standoff. The other groups were out there somewhere with portable missiles.
“We’re guessing the missile was a vintage Soviet SA-7,” Audrey explained to the group.
“This is going to get out of control if we don’t act fast,” Lorenzo commented. “Audrey, I want the hard drives from the terrorist base that was raided earlier decrypted ASAP.”
“Chloe is out of action,” Audrey argued, “along with some of the other analysts.”
“Look just get those files. Jack, I want you to track down the people who have these missiles.”
“What about the hostage situation?” Manning asked next. “The media is going to have a field day with it.”
“An agent is being reactivated to help you deal with that, Curtis,” Lorenzo responded. “He’ll be arriving at the top of the hour.”
“With all due respect, sir,” Jack argued, “I think Mac should also be involved. He’s trained in dealing with hostage situations and will do a good job.”
“Out of the question, Jack,” Lorenzo declined. “As I said I need experienced agents…”
“I know he can handle it, Lorenzo.”
“I know of Fuchs’ qualifications, Jack. I was his Supervisor when he was with Border Patrol. But I need agents experienced with CTU policies, not rookies.”
“Who’s the agent you’re bringing in?” Curtis asked. “If he’s coming here I need to know who he is. And what makes him more experienced than Ingram?”
“To answer your last question,” Lorenzo continued, “he’s already worked with CTU Los Angeles and has been on temporary disability leave pending rehabilitation.” Jack’s mind did a quick file search. There were only a handful of agents that fit that bill. “His name is Chase Edmunds.”
9:59:59