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Little Perspective by Bridget Rated: G/PG (language) Spoilers: Season 1 Author's Note: This is the first book in a multi-chapter series that will span all three seasons. The first book will detail the week preceding day one (or the first season) as seen through the eyes of eight characters - David Palmer, Ryan Chappelle, Sherry Palmer, Nina Myers, Tony Almeida, George Mason, Kim Bauer and Jack Bauer. I will be basing my stories of facts given in the show and in the book, "Findings at CTU" by Marc Cerasini. These stories will be based in canon for the most part aside from some things I add to fill out the characters' backgrounds. Biased, though I may be, but I feel the story is more coherent and more cohesive if all perspectives are read. Finally, I want to give a big thanks to my beta, Catch22Girl for being such a huge help to me. Disclaimer: I don't own these characters or "24". David Palmer I Ryan Chappelle I Sherry Palmer I Nina Myers I Tony Almeida I George Mason I Kim Bauer I Jack Bauer Wednesday New York, New York David stifled a yawn as he entered the penthouse suite. The scent of fresh coffee was in the air and the morning sunlight, filtered through the blinds, was casting stripes of golden color in the room. It was a little past 7 AM but his wife and several key staffers were already up and preparing for the day. Mike Novick, nodding to whoever he was talking to on his cell phone, gave him a light tap on the arm with the thin stack of papers he held. He had a proud grin on his face as he handed David the papers and pointed towards the top. "Most recent polls," he whispered before walking off to continue his phone conversation. David felt something akin to giddiness bubble up in him as he looked at the numbers, he was still trailing Hodges but he had closed the gap down to 2%. If everything went well this next week he could match and maybe even surpass Hodges' numbers come Super Tuesday. They were always on the go, attending one function or another, traveling from one city to the next. These past few weeks, he had barely had time to sleep or eat. Moments like these, when he realized how close he was to achieving something that for so long seemed just out of his grasp, always left him a little lightheaded. It had been a little more than two years ago when Sherry had first suggested that it might be time to run for President. It was something they had always talked about but at that time he hadn't felt ready. He had offered up a dozen reasons not to run - he was still too green, they didn't have enough money, there wasn't enough support - the list went on. The truth was he was scared and whatever excuse he could find he used. David was still ashamed of that initial reticence. Not because he was scared but because he was a hypocrite. For so long, he had been told by other politicians, associates, prominent leaders of the Black community, even friends and family -- that he shouldn't expect too much. That he should be happy with what he had and that he shouldn't try to rock the boat so much. He had even been told -- on more than one occasion -- that by pushing for change, by being ambitious he was only hurting himself and putting his family at risk. He was jeopardizing the Democratic Party and only making things more difficult for fellow African-American politicians. Naturally, when faced with such criticisms he had pointed out the flaws in their reasoning. He had called upon the words of one of his heroes and reminded them that the word "Wait...rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This 'Wait' has almost always meant 'Never." Yet there he was using those same arguments and letting those same fears hold him back. But even when he had been low on faith and his worries threatened to consume him he could count on Sherry to be his strength and courage. She had enough faith to carry him through that sea of doubt to firmer shores. He had known Sherry since they were children -- they had grown up in the same neighborhood and attended the same schools. She had impressed him at a young age with her intelligence, strength, charm and beauty. And she had touched his heart with her unwavering belief in him. David always knew his family was a blessing from God but like many people he sometimes forgot to be grateful for those gifts and it was only in times of adversity that he was reminded. They had all suffered through a terrible trial when his daughter Nicole was raped several years ago. It would have been easy for each of them to sink into their own mires of despair -- many families had been destroyed over less. But, they hadn't. His daughter had impressed him with her perseverance and reminded him what true grace was. And Keith had been stalwart and been there for his sister after she confided in him about the attack. It was during his run for the Senate and he hadn't been home much, both of his children had initially tried to keep the truth from him and Sherry. They had both thought they had to carry their burdens in silence and he couldn't help but see that as a failure on his part. Somehow they had pulled through and while they each bore the scars from that experience he knew they were a stronger family for it. The spirit he saw in his children today were mirrors to the resoluteness of their grandparents and great-grandparents. Their family had no wealthy forebearers and when the Depression came it had only pushed them further into the cage of poverty. His parents had grown up in that cage and it was a struggle just to keep food on the table and clothes on their back. He himself had been working since the age of 13, as the eldest son it was his job to help support the family. But despite whatever economic troubles they had faced his parents had always put him and his siblings first. They had always stressed the importance of education, hard work, character, family and faith in God. When his father had died he had almost quit high school to work full-time and support the family. It was his mother who had stopped him and told him that he couldn't carry that weight alone and reminded that as a family they were going to work through this hard time together. It was such a stunningly simple idea and yet it was so easy to forget that. Several months ago, he had watched the events of 9/11 unfold and bring forth a tide of horrible emotions in himself and those around him. He had been angry. Afraid. But worst of all he had felt helpless. It was his wife who had told him he had to run, that he couldn't wait any longer. The fear was still there. He was afraid of all the things that could go wrong and he was even afraid of everything going right and him winning. Taking the reigns right now, having the power to affect the world, was a truly humbling thought. But with his family beside him he knew he could face any challenges that came his way. Thursday Los Angeles, California Ryan stepped into his office and closed the door behind him. Assistant Regional Director Alberta Greene had cornered him in the hall and pestered him about the conference he was to attend in Salt Lake City the following week. While Alberta had tried to disguise it as professional interest it was obvious that she was angling to get herself invited. After a few minutes of her coy machinations he told her that since she was so knowledgeable perhaps she'd like to attend the conference in his place. It had taken her a few moments to realize he was being sincere and she had accepted the offer. He had hoped that would be the end of their meeting but when Alberta continued trailing him he knew that there was more. Apparently she had the latest gossip on the bed-hopping going on at CTU: LA and was dying to share. Ryan wasn't sure why Alberta was always so fixated at with the unfolding soap opera there but he was certain her past relationship with Nina Myers played some part in it. He could only wonder what Myers had done to get on Alberta's bad side. Ryan was honestly surprised that Myers had decided to get involved with both Bauer and -- if the rumor was true - Almeida. When she had worked for Division she didn't seem to have many personal relationships of any sort -- she seemed too professional for that. Aside from the antagonism shared by her and Alberta she mostly kept to herself. Not a loner, per se, but not interested in making friends. Just her work. He didn't know that much about Almeida, Ryan had only met the man a few times. According to Alberta, Almeida was not the biggest fan of Myers' former paramour - Jack Bauer. Bauer, had started with CTU around the same time he had. Ryan had worked with him on a field operation a few years back but hadn't had much interaction with him until recently. It was Bauer who had discovered that three agents were running a money laundering scheme and turned them over. Doing something like that would make you popular with the upper-level brass but not so much with your peers. Unfortunately, the fact that Bauer was now considered a snitch by many of those who worked for him combined with his apparent tendency to play favorites just made the situation at CTU: LA a powder keg waiting to explode. Ryan had to visit that branch tomorrow morning to see if they were prepared for the Primary on Tuesday. It would give him a chance to see for himself how things were running over there. He couldn't wait for that promotion to Federal to come through, then this would all be someone else's headache. When Ryan had taken a job with CIA a little over twenty years ago it had been out of curiosity. It was one of his professors at NYU who told him to contact the Agency for a job even though he had been dubious. Much to his surprise, his command of the Russian language, interest in the then-new technology of computer science and his degree in Finance made him very attractive to the agency. He was advised to get a graduate degree, which he did, and three years later he had a job as a CIA agent. One of his first real assignments had him on an internal investigation as a "mole-hunter." Over the preceding seven months the agency had lost 23 of its spies to the KGB after they had been discovered and killed. A lot of denial and dicking around later a mole-hunting team had been assembled. Ryan, 26 years old and with less than a year on the job, had to practically beg to be included on the team and he was after convincing one of his superiors that the best way to find the mole would be to look for unexplained wealth. His belief had proven correct and several weeks later they had caught their traitor. After that he became the golden boy of the agency. Whether it was following money trails or working on field operations he seemed to succeed at any task he was given and the CIA piled on the special commendations, honors and promotions. His ambition and tendency to stick to the rules coupled with a personality that varied between abrasive and icy didn't win him many friends. While his bosses may have loved him he was a pariah of sorts among his peers. But while Ryan was young he wasn't naive. He knew his bosses only cared for him as long as he was useful to them, once that changed they'd have no compunction to throwing him to the dogs. That was the way it worked here. The only way around it was to keep advancing high enough to where you had more autonomy and power. Even then it wasn't foolproof judging by the shakedowns in the Agency after 9/11. Sometimes he wondered why he hadn't taken that job with Goldman-Sachs and become an investment banker. The intelligence world was just as cutthroat as the business world and the pay was shit in comparison. Of course, the hours might be better but that was only because Ryan had stopped doing field missions and started delegating the less important of his business trips to Alberta. And it was a lot easier to fire people in the private sector. The funny thing was that as much as he complained about his job and there were some things he hated about it -- if he had to do it all again he'd still choose the CIA. At first he'd taken the Agency's offer on a whim, to see if he could hack it. It was a gamble to be sure, especially with a wife and two young children at home, but with an MBA from Wharton to fall back on it wasn't too big of a risk. More than that, he felt the work he would do with the CIA was so much more important than being another yuppie caught up in the "greed is good" fervor. It was a youthful sense of civic duty and a desire to be a part of something bigger that drew him into the Agency. At least he got what he wanted - much like Jonah when he was in the belly of the whale - he was now a part of something bigger. Ryan checked his watch, he better leave now before he was late for the weekly meeting with District. Friday Baltimore, Maryland Sherry smiled brightly and gave a low, coquettish laugh as Dennis Wilcox, multimillionaire and generous contributor to David's campaign, launched into yet another story. After standing in four-inch heels all day her back was killing her and she couldn't feel her feet anymore. Adding insult to injury, Mr. Wilcox had had one too many glasses of champagne and seemed to think her cleavage was the intended audience for his latest yarn. Despite this, she kept a smile on her face. Governor Glendening had been kind enough to host this event in David's honor and she was going to work over every last person in this crowd before the night ended. A sharp shriek of static rang out over the muffled conversations and soft music. The governor had taken to the podium to introduce Sherry's husband. She nodded politely to Dennis, who was too engrossed in his umpteenth glass of champagne to notice, and sat in the nearest chair. The energy in the room changed as her husband took the podium. The smile that came to her face now was genuine as were the slight shivers down her spine. David was at his best in these moments, when he was commanding an audience. All her fears, all her doubts melted away when she saw how the crowds responded to him. This time next year, they would be in the White House. Any other outcome was impossible. Her grin widened as she realized she would soon be the First Lady. The idea of all their plans and dreams coming to fruition made her heart race. It was an intoxicating rush, like drinking too much champagne or falling in love. They were so close now. Sometimes, and Sherry always felt a little silly for this, she was almost sad that she would only live out most of her dreams through David. In that dark corner of her heart she tried to ignore -- she was resentful of always being in his shadow. But that was foolish. As difficult as it was for a black man to get as far as David had, for a woman it would have been ten times worse. It was almost thirty years ago when David had told her the dreams he had for himself and for the both of them. Her family hadn't been happy about their relationship or any of her choices regarding David. While they weren't rich her family was solidly planted in the middle-class and looking to move up the social ladder. They hadn't groomed their daughter to be with the son of a school janitor. When David had been accepted to Georgetown they had been momentarily appeased but all their old biases resurfaced when she had started working full-time to put David through law school. She had taken almost any job she could find, mostly clerical work, to help David advance his career. She knew then that if he was going to make it to the top she had to forego all her dreams to support his because it was only with her that he would ever have a chance. It was difficult subverting her own ego like that but it was necessary. Besides, she wasn't suited for the limelight. Oh, she had no problem with the attention and she could easily have the crowd eating out of the palm of her hand if she wished. However, David had the personality that people responded to. She was as charismatic and intelligent as he but he had this aura of integrity and innate goodness that people longed for in their leaders. Moreover, she was better working behind the scenes. For all of David's wonderful qualities he just wasn't equipped to deal with the seedier elements in politics. He thought he could of course, he thought his dealings with Carl Webb and the Latham group prepared him for that but if he knew all the things she worked to shield him from -- he wouldn't be able to take it. He needed his illusions. If he knew some of the things she knew about their contributors or even about his own children he'd be crushed. She had to protect him for his own sake. Her son had called her in tears from the hospital one night several years ago. He had confronted that the little shit who had raped Nicole and they had gotten into a fight that had resulted in Lyle Gibson's death. He didn't tell her much more than that but she was able to figure out most of it. She had known that could be disastrous for her family and for David's campaign so she had Keith contact Carl and he took care of it. She had no problem with covering up what happened. Like Carl said, it was most likely an accident and Gibson wasn't worth sending her son to jail. She knew if David had gotten wind of what had happened he would have insisted on going public. Her husband was an intelligent man but he was could be such a wide-eyed Pollyanna sometimes! He honestly believed that people could handle the truth -- even ugly, complicated ones -- while at the same time remaining blissfully unaware to what was happening with his own children. But none of that mattered anymore. Her husband was going to be the next president of the United States and she would be right by his side. Saturday Los Angeles, California Nina turned the water in the sink off and stepped out into the hallway. She turned to to the left when she heard footsteps outside her apartment. A shadow passed under the door and traveled down the corridor. She sighed in relief and then made her way towards the bedroom. Tony would be here in five minutes and she still had to dress and put on her make-up. Nina was surprised, again, at how much she was looking forward to seeing Tony. She knew Tony had always had a crush on her and when Jack had decided to go back to Teri she had taken up with Tony. She wasn't sure why she had, really. Was it was to make Jack jealous? Or was it because Tony had been so caring? From a purely business perspective, getting involved with Tony wasn't smart. Getting involved with Jack had damaged any credibility she had had at CTU and when word of her relationship with Tony spread, her career with CTU: LA would hit a dead-end. Not that it would matter. As for her other job, a relationship with Tony didn't make much sense there either. In the beginning, she hadn't intended to sleep with Jack but when the opportunity presented itself she had gone along. While he did have a higher security clearance and a relationship could provide her with more information regarding intelligence and himself, she hadn't expected to get that much from him. However, aside from her sullied reputation at CTU, that affair had worked to her advantage both professionally and personally. Tony, on the other hand, was useless to her as far as her other job was concerned. Being with him provided a nice cover, added another layer to her "poor besotted Nina" facade but professionally she'd be better served with someone else. Getting involved with someone like George could have helped her cover and he had an even higher security clearance than Jack. She smirked. Judging by the way George had looked ready to hump her leg when she last saw him, getting that information out of him wouldn't have been too difficult. She still couldn't believe it when she and Tony had run into George. First with Jack, then with Tony - she had started wonder if George was stalking her. She was certain he was the reason most of CTU knew about her and Jack. With Tony, just as with Jack, she had to lie quickly to spare them the embarrassment. She wasn't sure if George had believed her the first time but she had lied so effortlessly and confidently that he had been left speechless. A rare occurrence. The second time he had actually apologized. It was strange, she had been with two very different men but both had reacted the same way after their respective confrontations with the District Director. Jack and Tony had both looked at her with something that was a mix of amusement, admiration and wariness. Lying was something that came naturally to her. In her profession lying poorly or lying well was often what separated the dead from the living. Beyond that she enjoyed being able to pull the wool over someone's eyes. She liked that feeling of knowing a secret, having the advantage in a situation. Lying allowed her to hide. To protect herself. Not just from physical dangers but emotional ones also. Nina had learned that lesson from an early age. Growing up in her family she had learned that knowing how to manipulate a situation gave her control. She learned that lying was a way to draw people closer. Growing up in her family she had learned that she was seductive, desirable and that she could use her body to get what she wanted. She shook her head. She hadn't thought about her former life as Natalie Moore in a long time. When she did, which was rarely, she usually thought about her sister. She had left home as soon as she could. First, she went to Yale but she couldn't afford it after that first year so rather than go home she went took what money she had left and bought a one-way ticket to Germany. German was the only other language she had known at the time and as far as she had been concerned, Berlin was about as different from St. Louis as it got. Getting into East Germany, even then when its days were numbered, had been difficult. She wasn't even sure why she had been so determined to get into the East other than curiosity and the fact that things were cheaper there. Staying there had proven to be a challenge. She would have left sooner but then she met Max. He provided her with an incentive to stay for a while longer. She returned to the states two years later as Nina Myers. Soon after she had gotten settled into her new role she had found out that her sister had committed suicide. The final tie to her past had been severed. Nina looked at her reflection in the mirror. She smoothed the black sheath over her hips and applied a little more gloss to her parted lips. As much as she liked things here, as much as she liked being with Tony she would be happy to leave it all behind. Her relationships there, especially with Tony and Jack, left her feeling vulnerable. Her cover wasn't in danger, she had no worries there but ... she was worried about becoming attached. After this next mission was completed she might transfer to another branch. Her history with CTU: LA would give her the perfect opportunity to leave when the dust had settled. Or maybe she'd leave CTU behind entirely, work for the DOD or NSA. There was a knock at the door. Nina tossed one final look to her mirror before walking out of the room. Sunday Los Angeles, California Tony stretched and looked at the clock -- it was a little after nine A.M. He gently rolled over, so as not to wake Nina, and felt a sleepy smile come to his lips at the sight that greeted him. It was an unusually chilly morning and Nina had the covers pulled tightly over shoulders, her face was half-buried in the pillow. They had gone out last night on a date -- a real date. Not meeting for lunch or just heading straight back to one of their apartments after work but dinner and even a little dancing. He hadn't been so sure on the dancing part, he had been told that he was a good dancer but he always felt so self-conscious. She had laughed at his shyness and kissed him gently on the lips before pulling him onto the dance floor. He loved watching Nina dance. He loved Nina. It was scary to be sure. The first time he worked with her, on Operation Proteus, he had been instantly captivated. Working side by side with her, day in day out those initial feelings deepened. She was intelligent, beautiful and devoted to her work. He wasn't merely attracted to her, he admired her. But CTU, like most government agencies, had strict rules about "fraternization" and he hadn't been willing to jeopardize their careers and their friendship. However, the past few months he had become closer to her as she gravitated towards Jack. It had been difficult watching the two of them together. Jack was married, albeit separated at the time, and he had decided to start an affair with one of his subordinates. It was stupid both professionally and personally but why should that stop him? Jack had the kind of ego that let him continue on any course he'd chosen regardless of the consequences. Nina had never admitted to them having an affair but he had heard the gossip and more importantly he knew what he had seen between them. It had ended a few weeks ago as far as he could tell. Jack had probably gone back to his wife and Nina had suffered in silence. She was a class act for not retaliating or falling apart. Two weeks ago, he had seen Nina at a bar a lot of the agents hung out at after work. While he was sometimes there to meet with the other agents she wasn't a regular at the after work get-togethers. He went over to talk to her, they had had a few drinks and wound up back at his place. He knew she didn't feel the same way he did so he hadn't expected it to be anything more than a one night stand but it turned into more. What, he wasn't sure exactly. He knew from the beginning it was probably just a rebound relationship, Nina probably still had feelings for Jack. She might just be using him to make Jack jealous and in the end he might get burned. But he couldn't say no to her. And even though logic was telling him otherwise he couldn't believe that he was nothing more to her than a co-worker with benefits. Last night had given him the hope their relationship could become more. Of course, that could have its own set of problems. Last week they had run into George Mason while coming back from breakfast. Nina had put Mason in his place but he was sure that incident had made it into the CTU gossip mills. He was pretty sure that Jack knew, even though he hadn't let on -- yet. He didn't like Jack and it wasn't just because of Nina, although watching him treat her like garbage didn't help. He had joined the Marines when he turned 18 as a way to pay off college. His family wasn't poor but they weren't rich either and they didn't have the funds to support him. He had always been a shy, bookish kid. He could hold his own in sports but he wasn't an athlete -- he was never competitive enough for any of that. His father had been pleased when Tony told him he had enlisted, he thought it would be a great chance for him to "toughen up." Life in the Marines hadn't been so bad. The food was horrid and boot camp was hell but other than that he enjoyed it. He liked the structure and the routine. He never had problems taking orders, unlike some of his fellow Marines who thought that they were above that and believed they didn't have to follow the rules. Some of them could coast by on the excuse of being intelligent and talented. But they were also arrogant and dismissive of those around them. He hated putting up with all that macho bullshit. Not that he always rose above it but he tried to avoid pissing contests. It's why he didn't make a career out of the Marines - too many guys like Jack there. After he got out he decided he liked California better than Chicago, even if he did miss catching home games at Wrigley whenever he wanted. He worked in Silicon Valley for a while and while the pay was good it wasn't what he wanted to spend his life doing. When he was contacted by CTU recruiters he had jumped at the chance. It was an incredible honor to be asked to work there. Even though he did have to put up with some egos at work, it was worth it. If he hadn't joined CTU he might never have met the woman he loved. Sunday Los Angeles, California George took the deck of cards in his hands and deftly cut and shuffled them. It was another poker night with some of the guys from District. This was their third game and he had already lost a small fortune. If things didn't pick up he'd have to start cheating -- which was admittedly pathetic. Donahue and Nevins were both more focused on the basketball game on the tv and Johnston sucked at poker -- the man practically telegraphed every move he was going to make. At this point George was really only playing against Orson. Of course, Orson also had far too much of George's money and had been wearing a self-satisfied smirk since he took the last pot. Arrogant bastard. On the subject of arrogant bastards, Donahue began grousing about Brad Hammond and Ryan Chappelle. The two men had been on everyone's ass about the primary and a memo sent to the heads of District had stated that one of them would be visiting on Monday for a meeting with George and District Manager Walsh. It would probably be Ryan since Hammond rarely wandered far from his spacious office at Division - thankfully. Not that seeing his old friend Ryan would be much better. It galled George to think that someone who had once been his second-in-command was now giving him orders. Ryan was the perfect example of how too much success, too soon, could ruin a person. Chappelle had never been the easiest guy to know but his time at CTU seemed to make him more insufferable. George almost wished that the promotion Ryan was rumored to be slated for would arrive. Unfortunately, Alberta would probably get Ryan's old job and then it became a question of which was worse. And that was life with the Agency in a nutshell -- trying decide which was the lesser of two evils. It was compromise that had started him on this path in the first place. His whole life had been more or less decided for him before he was even eighteen years old. As his senior year of high school drew to a close George had hoped to spend his summer chasing girls and maybe traveling before entering college. However, it was 1967 and Uncle Sam had other plans for him. He didn't want to go to Vietnam but he knew then that if he had fled to Canada his already fragile relationship with his father would be damaged beyond repair. His father had told him flat out that if George tried to run he would drag him back. Despite his strident stance, it was his father who had come up with the solution of George joining the Coast Guard. It seemed counterintuitive but joining the Coast Guard made it less likely that George would ever set foot on Vietnamese soil than if he waited be drafted by the Army. Unfortunately, the Masons weren't the only ones to realize the opportunity presented by enlisting in the Coast Guard and the waiting list was long. His family was never wealthy but they weren't hurting either. His father, uncle and grandfather ran a relatively small but very lucrative lumber business and they had enough money and connections to get George shortlisted for the Coast Guard. The fact that George didn't particularly want to enlist was moot by that point. The other options he had left him branded a coward and disowned by most of his family or stuck in the jungles of Vietnam trying to not get killed. To even call it a choice would be oversimplifying matters. Last Thanksgiving his son John had decided to drop a bombshell on him and announce that he had flunked out of college but luckily he had that promising job at Java Joe's Hut to fall back on. He was a good kid but spoiled if he thought that choosing between college or whatever it was he spent his days doing was a tough decision. George almost wished he could force John into the military to see if it could give his son some direction and discipline but then again he himself had spent a decade there and hadn't gained either. Life with the Guard wasn't so bad, but it wasn't so great either. He didn't care much for the food, the dress code, the seemingly endless list of inane rules, the company or the general atmosphere but you could get used to anything if you try hard enough. He had attended college while with the Guard and after changing majors a few times he settled on Criminology but his first choice had been Education. He had always had a love-hate relationship with school. He loved learning but didn't care enough to try and excel at anything. He had always been happy to sort of drift along. There was probably some status to be earned in being a straight-A student but he was already known as a smart guy and a good athlete which was enough for him. Why work for an A when he didn't even need to crack open a book to get a B? He had been described time and time again by his teachers as "very intelligent but doesn't live up to his full potential." Well, who ever does? But other than the part where the actual work came in he enjoyed school, the general atmosphere and learning for the joy of it. When he thought about life after his time in the Coast Guard he had thought about becoming a college professor and teaching something like political science. That didn't happen though. His then girlfriend had told him she was pregnant and he realized he had more than just himself to worry about now. George and Carol had been married three months later -- it was the right thing to do. He loved Carol and he was approaching thirty so it was as good a time as any to settle down and start a family. His father had offered him a job in the family which he could have eventually inherited along with his cousin and brother-in-law but George turned him down. Experience had taught him that his relationship with his father suffered if they had to spend more than a few hours a month in contact with each other. A few weeks later one of his father's friends offered him a job with the CIA. Initially, George refused because he had still wanted to finish his Education degree and go on to become a college professor. Becoming a professor, however, required more than a Bachelor's degree and meant long hours and shitty pay. He would have to buy a house soon along with God knows what else for the baby. Joining the CIA meant he'd have steady income and they'd even pay for him to get a Graduate degree which would allow him to move on to a higher position with more money. It wasn't even a choice. Moving up in the CIA was mostly about politics. The field assignments and other work counted but in the end it was the connections that helped seal the deal. Most CIA Directors got there because of their connections, internal politics or in the case of the last clown to hold the post -- he had been with the Agency for twenty years and was the least offensive choice. The lesser evil. George had never been an exemplary CIA agent, mediocre to be honest, but he was very good at playing the game. He went to the parties, attended the right functions and for the most part his superiors and his peers liked him even though the people who worked for him generally didn't. His ability to schmooze was what got him the Deputy Director job. Advancing in CTU was a little different, it required more work. He had done a few field assignments and operations with the CIA but he mostly avoided them. At CTU, he was doing one or two operations a year. George didn't mind the missions although being away from home that much hastened the death of his marriage and didn't help his relationship with his son any. His record on operations was unremarkable save for the "Special Commendation" he earned for "exemplary bravery" on his second mission and the two-hundred grand he pocketed on his last mission. No one but George knew about the latter. The money was now in some offshore account in Aruba where it would likely remain for a long time. He had taken the money because he could, that was the only reason. No ailing relative or dire straits. The opportunity had presented itself and he had started grabbing as much money as he could. He was still amazed that he hadn't been caught even though in his more paranoid moments he was sure someone somewhere knew and it was only a matter of time. George had justified taking the money a hundred ways: it was from a lowlife, drug-dealing terrorist who wasn't going to be needing the money anyway, he knew for a fact that others -- his superiors -- had done similar if not worse things, he was owed this money for all the shit he'd been put through, all the things he'd seen and the things he'd done in the name of the US government. They owed him. He had thought about giving the money back, almost as soon as he grabbed it. That wouldn't work. He had some connections high up but not enough to get away with something like this. It wasn't like stealing candy from the local store, he couldn't just return it and get off with a warning. The best he would get is a reduced prison sentence at a medium security prison and that was being optimistic. Now he had all this money and he was too afraid to spend it. George finished dealing the cards and then picked his cards up from the table. A sigh escaped his lips. Like so many times before, he had drawn a bad hand. Monday Santa Monica, California Kim folded the note carefully and waited for Mr. Garza to turn his back before she tossed the note onto Sandy Kaylor's desk. As if he sensed the movement her Algebra teacher turned around suddenly and looked around at the class. Kim kept her eyes firmly on the blackboard and even pretended to write down a few equations until Mr. Garza turned back around. She hated Algebra, it had to be the most pointless subject in the world. Kim wasn't going to be a scientist or mathematician so she didn't understand why she had to waste her time on this. Algebra was only useful for getting into even higher maths for which she would never have any practical use for -- it was all bullshit! Her best friend Janet was thinking about being a fashion designer one day. She had books full of these great drawings. Several juniors were even having their prom dresses made from her designs. Janet had a lot of talent and was definitely going to be a famous one day. She had told Kim that they could go into business together. Kim could be her model. Not that Kim really thought she ever would be a model but it was fun to dream about that kind of thing. She had to meet with a guidance counselor next week about her grades. Thanks to her A's in English and Biology she wasn't in danger of failing but her GPA had taken a huge nosedive since last year. Kim knew that she would get the usual round of questions - What are your plans after college? What do you want to do with your life? Honestly, she wasn't sure what she wanted to do when she "grew up." She hated the feeling that she had to have her whole life planned out by the time she was eighteen. She had a hard enough time planning out her life on a day-to-day basis let alone for the next 50 years. Kim had thought about going to a Culinary Arts school. She liked to cook although if she did that every day she might not like it as much. She loved working with kids and baby-sitting. She was always complimented for how good she was with kids -- most people were surprised to find out she was an only child. Maybe she could be an elementary school teacher or something similar. She had really gotten into the show "Alias". Despite the fact that it was so obviously unrealistic when it came to what life was like for a CIA agent it made her think about joining the CIA one day. She had even looked at the CIA's official website to see what kind of degrees they wanted. She probably wouldn't do it though. Truth be told she was too wimpy to go into something like that. Kim was certain that the life of an average CIA agent wasn't half as insane as they were on tv with all the torture and shoot-outs but it was still a little scary. Her dad had told her that the actual work was a lot more tedious than Hollywood made it out to be. Kim had a feeling he told her that so she wouldn't worry about him. She couldn't see her dad staying behind a desk all day pushing papers. And it wasn't a desk job that had ruined her family. Her dad had gone away on a business trip about two years ago and when he came home two months later everything was different. She hadn't seen it at first or maybe she had but she had just tried to ignore what was going on at home. She had always been close to both her parents but it had gotten really weird being around them so instead she kept busy. She became more involved with school -- joining nearly every club there was till she spent more time at school or with her friends that at home. It was so uncomfortable there. Kim's mom was anxious all the time -- it drove her crazy! Then there were the fights late at night when her parents thought Kim was asleep. Her mom pleading with her dad to open up or to go see a counselor and her dad yelling at mom to just leave it alone and that everything was fine. Kim started sleeping with her headphones on around then. It was so bad between them that her dad had moved out of the house last August. Then it was just Kim and her mom and that was not a good situation. Her mom seemed to throw all of the nervous energy she had focused on her dad onto Kim. She was always on Kim's case about something -- her attitude, her clothes, her schoolwork. It was now her turn to argue with her mom to lay off her case. They had had some really nasty arguments -- like the one they had a couple weeks before Christmas. Her mom was on her case about Kim's then-boyfriend Vincent. She hadn't told her mom she was seeing the high school senior because she knew her mom would flip out when she found out he was a nineteen year-old. Unfortunately, her mom was home early one night and saw Vincent dropping her off from a date and then came the interrogation. Who is that boy? Why don't I know about him? He drives? How old is he? When her mom found out the answer to that last question she made Kim break up with him. That really set Kim off. It wasn't the fact that her mom told her to break up with Vincent - he was a horny jerk and she was thinking of dumping him anyway. It was the fact that her mom wanted to dictate her love life when she couldn't even manage her own! It was the fact that she was always prying and treated her like such a baby. Her mom was the reason her dad had left. Kim suspected that her mom had asked him to move out and that even if she didn't her dad would have eventually left anyway to get away from her constant nagging. She told her mom that the reason her dad didn't want to open up to her was because she was "so pushy and annoying" and that she was the reason her dad wouldn't come back home. Her mom had been furious and left the room. Later Kim had heard her crying in the bathroom and she had felt horrible. Those feelings dissipated when she overheard her mom talking with the new "best friend" Phil. Kim wasn't totally certain but she had a feeling he was the same guy she had seen dropping her mom off a few nights before they had their fight. The same man she saw her mom kissing on their doorstep. Yeah, her mom was real broken up about the separation from her dad. She was convinced her parents were going to get a divorce and was actually wishing they'd just hurry up and tell her. However, after the holidays things changed and her mom was on the phone with her dad almost every night. Last Monday she had woken up and found her dad downstairs in the kitchen making pancakes -- he was home. Kim was glad that he was home but it was still weird. Before it had been difficult because of the tension between her parents but now it was difficult because of the problems she was having with her parents. She felt so different and almost detached from them. The relationship between her and her mom was still adversarial and while she and her dad actually fought less now than they ever had there was still this distance between them. She had always been daddy's little girl and she had always had this adoration for her father but that had changed. She didn't feel as close to him and Kim didn't think she ever would again. It was just so awkward and weird. She had been telling Janet about all the drama at home last Friday during lunch when she just broke down. Kim never was one to cry easily but there she was -- in the middle of the lunchroom -- just sobbing. Janet had decided that Kim needed some time to loosen up and forget about school and her family so they were going to sneak out and go partying tonight. She was kind of nervous about that. She and Janet had snuck out before to meet up with Janet's other friends but that was always from Janet's house when she was spending the night. This time she had to sneak out of her own house with her dad home. It was going to be tough but Kim was a little excited about seeing if she could get away with it - almost more than she was about the actual partying. Kim felt that she might as well enjoy herself now. Once her parents saw her Algebra grades she'd probably be under house arrest till summer. Monday Santa Monica, California Jack opened the sliding glass door and slammed it shut. Teri had told him the door's lock might be broken and he had wanted to check it before they went to bed. The door seemed to be fine but it had stuck a bit when he was opening and closing it. He would have to take another look at it tomorrow but for now he was happy that it was locked. He crossed the kitchen and entered the security code into their home alarm. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Teri sitting at the table with her laptop in front of her. She was frowning and playing with her hair absentmindedly as she worked. It was such a familiar sight he had to smile. He remembered the first time he noticed her, really noticed her. It was one afternoon twenty years ago and he had stopped by her house to see if her brother wanted to go play ball at the park. After searching for a few minutes he found Teri in the backyard sitting under a tree working on a sketch. It was warm that day so she had her long, curly hair pulled back save for one curl that she had wrapped around her finger. It was then Jack realized that someone he had only regarded as Mike's little sister and a pretty good shortstop was also a very beautiful girl. He had known Teri since they were children and they had been together for almost twenty years. He literally could not remember life before he knew her and it was hard to imagine life without her. Jack couldn't believe he had come so close to losing her. Nearly two years ago he had been dispatched on a special operation in Kosovo, the objective was to kill Milosevic's second-in-command -- Victor Drazen. Logically, he had no problems with what he had been assigned to do. Drazen was responsible for the systematic rape, torture and murder of hundreds of thousands of Albanians. He was a homicidal monster, the Himmler to Milosevic's Hitler. No, Jack had no qualms about killing him. But it was still a little surreal that he was now acting as the US Government's own hitman. The mission had started well but quickly devolved into a nightmare. Drazen's men had found Jack and his men out in the woods after the Drazen complex had been bombed. His team was surrounded and outnumbered. The battle that followed was short. A little more than an hour after the Drazen complex had been destroyed Jack's entire team was gone. The men that he had personally selected and asked to join him on this operation were all dead now. He had led them to their deaths. When he came home he was barely functioning. Jack still went through the motions of everyday life but he felt hollow inside. It was like he was sleepwalking through his days. When he laid down at night, when he closed his eyes, he was right back in Kosovo. The feel of the cold air in his throat and nose, the sounds of the artillery, the sight of blood on the snow-covered ground, the smell of charred flesh -- it all came back to him in his quiet moments. That's why he tried to keep busy. He threw himself into his work and every spare moment he had he relived that day. He had become obsessed with trying to figure out how things had ended so horribly. Jack had believed he could find some justice for his men and some peace for himself if he could find out who was behind the mission's failure. The truth, like justice and peace of mind, proved to be beyond his grasp. Faced with this second failure he really started to sink deeper into his depression. He was too tightly wound to sleep and when he did he was haunted by images of that day. Jack kept having this recurring dream where he was running through the woods of Dakovica, he was being chased by Drazen's men. He would come across this wide but shallow lake which he would have to wade through to escape. Sometimes, as he was wading through but sometimes before he would see the bodies of his men floating in the lake. Usually they were dead and he had to push through them to make his way across the lake but sometimes they weren't. That was the worst because then they would call or reach for him but Jack still had to push past them because he couldn't save them, he could only save himself. Teri had known there was something wrong almost immediately. She had asked but after a few denials from Jack she had decided to leave it alone. That changed, however, when he had been home for about a month. He came home one Sunday after being called into work for some minor problem. Jack went into the living room looking for Teri or Kim. Neither of them were in there but the tv was on and there was an episode of "Band of Brothers" playing. He had never watched the show but he had seen many war movies before and they usually had no effect on him. Jack wasn't sure if it was the snowy woods or the explosions in the dark night but that episode brought him right back to Kosovo. Teri found him a few minutes later slumped next to the couch gasping for air. She did everything she could to help him. She was supportive, she was tough. She gave him space, she was always there for him. She became an expert on post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. She asked him to go to a psychiatrist. She even asked his family and friends to help. Teri spent a year and a half holding onto Jack but it was no use, he still sunk deeper into the abyss. Jack insisted that he was fine. He tried to explain away the mood swings, lack of sleep and panic attacks as simple stress. She didn't believe it and neither did he. He didn't know what else to do, he didn't know what he could tell her and more importantly he didn't know how he could tell her. How could he tell her that he was sent to murder someone half a world away? How could he tell her that all those men who trusted him, depended on him, wouldn't be there if it weren't for him were now dead and he couldn't save them. He could only save himself. Last August, Teri asked him to move out. It was a formality at that point. He was spending more time at work and when he was home he barely spoke to Teri. They hadn't made love in months. They separated and he moved into an apartment not far from work. Aside from his visits with Kim on the weekend his life continued much as it did before, he woke up, went to work, came home to sleep and repeated the pattern the next day. It wasn't until three months later that he was jolted out of his routine. In November, Jack discovered that three agents had been taking bribes from an organization with terrorist connections. He had turned them over and turned CTU: LA upside-down in the process. Aside from having District, Division and even Federal crawling all over for the next few months, that action had made him the enemy of most of the agents under his command. His last refuge was no longer welcoming. Jack still had a few people at work he could depend on, like Nina. She had defended him and put herself on the line for him countless times even though her own reputation was damaged in the process. He had always admired Nina as a fellow agent but now he admired her as person. They had entered into a relationship a few weeks later. It wasn't planned but it just seemed natural for them. At the same time he started talking to Richard Walsh about what had happened in Kosovo. Jack had been impressed by Richard the first time he met him, the man was a terrific agent, a strong leader and had the kind of integrity that was sorely lacking among the other "suits" in the Agency. Like Nina, Richard was someone he respected as person and one of his closest friends at CTU. It was Richard who helped him see the mess he was making of his life. Jack had started talking to Teri more and a few weeks ago she asked him to come back home. When he told Nina that he was going back to Teri she had seemed genuinely happy for him but he thought he saw something else there. Jack wasn't sure but sometimes he suspected that Nina might have feelings for him that were deeper than he had suspected. If she did, she'd never tell him. Nina, even when she was involved with him, seemed to keep her heart closely guarded. He was surprised and a bit relieved that she was involved with Tony. He and Tony didn't get along. He knew Tony didn't care for him and Jack found Tony's attitude and constant need to second-guess him tiring. Still, he was a pretty decent guy and he seemed to care for Nina a lot, she deserved that. Jack entered the living room and walked over to a bookcase in the corner. After looking for a minute he found what he was looking for and pulled the chess set off the shelf. Kim had first become interested in chess when she was about twelve. Playing chess had been another way for he and Kim to bond. She had a natural affinity for it and it wasn't long before she was beating him at the game. Now it seemed like chess was one of the few things they still shared. Even though Kim acted like everything was fine he knew their relationship was different. In some ways, he had spent two years away from his family. It was overwhelming when he thought about everything that had happened and how much his life had changed and how much he had changed. At the same time Jack felt very hopeful about the future and he hadn't felt that for a long time. He had been given a second chance in many ways and he wasn't going to squander it. End of Book One |
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