CTU, Erin Driscoll's office

"Okay, thank you." Erin, the new Head of CTU, hangs up the phone in her office and jots down a note in a file printed out on her desk. Then she places a call to Jack Bauer's office. Chloé O'Brien, Jack's assistant, picks up instead.

CTU Main office

"CTU O'Brien."

"Chloé, where's Jack?", Erin asks, without saying her name. It should be clear enough who she is.

"He went over to Tech 1, something he needed to check up on. He should be back any minute."

"Alright. Will you send him to my office as soon as he's back?"

"Sure. I'll let him know."

Erin hangs up. "At least a thank you would be nice." Chloé thinks to herself as she puts the receiver down and goes back to her work. "Nobody around here says thank you any more." She walks down to the main office floor to get an update from Adam.

Just then, Jack walks in and heads for the stairs leading up to his office. "Jack. Erin wants to talk to you.", Chloé informs him.

Jack stops and glances upstairs. "Alright. Did she say what it was about?"

"No. Just that she wants to see you as soon as you're in."

"Okay, thanks Chloé." Immediately, Jack turns around and takes a different staircase up, the files he was working on still in his hand. He knows that Erin wouldn't like it if he let her wait.

Chloé goes about her work. "Okay, no-one says thanks - except Jack.", she chuckles and joins Adam at his desk.

CTU, Erin Driscoll's office

Jack opens the glass door to Erin's office. "You wanted to see me?"

"Jack, have a seat.", she says, briefly looking up from the printout in her hands, but remains sitting in her chair.

Jack glances back towards the main office, then lets the door shut behind him. He checks his watch as he picks a chair and quietly sits down, tapping the files in his hands on the table, so they look neat before placing them on the table infront of him. He was working - as usual - on something that couldn't wait. And he needs to get back to it as soon as possible.
Well, he is going to have to wait and see whan she wanted from him first. Erin continues to scan the printout for a while, not paying much attention to him. He's used to waiting around for a boss, but this was a little rude. Ah, whatever, she's only been here a few months, they all still needed to get used to each other. She was as good a boss as any.

Then, finally, she lets go of the printout and walks towards him. Jack puts out a question first. "How're you settling in up here?"

"It'll take some time. A change always does.", she answers as she sits down opposite him.

"Well, like I said," Jack offers, knowing that it's true, "if there's anything that I can do - please just let me know." He waits for a sign of agreement from her, a nod, a smile, but gets nothing. Instead, she leans back in the chair opposite him, places her arms on the armrests and looks him straight in the eyes.

"Jack, I'm removing you as Head of Field Ops."

What? She's *removing* me? What the hell?... Why? "I... I don't understand. Where do you want me to go?", Jack is questioning, hoping that this doesn't mean what he thinks it means.

"That's up to you...", Erin answers.

And then it hits him: He's getting fired! Thrown out like some piece of trash, from the organization he's given all he had to give to. And by a woman who's just taken over the place about three months ago! She continues without giving him time to ask any questions: "I've decided you're a liability that I don't wanna carry."

Liability?! If anything, I'm a resource! How dare she, after everything that I've done for this office?
Jack can feel the disappointment and the anger come up in him, but remains polite. If he's going to get fired, he's at least not going to give her the satisfaction of seeing him explode. Jack lets his head and eyes sink for a moment, but lifts it back up quickly. "Please explain to me in how I'm a liability.", he asks and looks at her. Now, I really wanna hear this, he says to himself and prepares to listen carefully.

Erin averts her eyes from him for a moment, then finds his stare and holds it. "I can look past all the off-book behavior that's been documented over the last five years, even though it's been substantial." Great, so where's the problem?, Jack thinks and shifts in his seat. If that's fine with her, then what's not? Her eyes sink for another moment, but she continues immediately. "But the fact that you were addicted to heroin - I can't get past that."

Bang! So that's it. I mess up my health for this office, and this is how I'm thanked? He'd been warned before they had made the decision to let him go undercover with the Salazaars. He knew that, if the drug thing ever came up, it would be a problem. But he had control over the addiction now. It was no longer an issue! Didn't she know that? Unlikely. She was probably just looking for a reason to make him disappear.

"I incurred that habit in the line of duty.", Jack tells her. She most certainly knows that, but it can't hurt to bring it up again. "I was maintaining my cover. I came clean about it. And I haven't touched anything since I entered the program."

"That's true and I commend you. But it's still a vulnerability.", Erin states calmly. Jack now keeps his head low, he's not looking at her. He says nothing as she continues. "And in my judgement, that vulnerability will hurt your performance." He knows at least part of what she's saying is right. An addiction is never really healed. Once an addict - always an addict. But he also knows that he has the willpower to conquer it forever. It wouldn't be a vulnerability, it wouldn't interfere with his work. But he's not going to beg. She's made her decision and that's the end of it. "I'm sorry Jack, I don't tolerate any weaknesses. It's not how I work."

Jack is now looking at her again. "Alright, I can understand that.", Jack gets up and heads for the door. If he's getting fired, he'll take it with dignity. If she thinks it's a weakness then she's in fact right to fire him. There's no room for that in their line of work. But he's disappointed and angry anyway. He wasn't in the least expecting this.

"I've made several calls, I can help you get a position.", Erin offers, still sitting, as he approaches the office door.

Jack stops before opening the door and turns back to her. What was she thinking? First, she fires him, and then she's all helpful? For what? So she can tell every possible employer about his "weakness"? So that he can never get a responsible job again? Oh, no, she won't! Jack glares at her for a moment before letting her know what he thinks.

"I can find my own fucking job, Erin, thank you." Jack grabs the door and leaves her office, swiftly descending the stairs to the main floor.

Erin watches his silhouette disappear through the glass door.
He took it surprisingly well, she's thinking. Well, that's it then. It wasn't easy, but it's done. Jack Bauer won't be interfering with the chain of command any more. No more talk of CTU as a harbor for ex-junkies. Well done, Erin, she tells herself as she allows herself to remain seated for another moment or two. As of now, she is *really* in charge of this place.

End

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