A/N: Maybe second to last chapter...not quite decided. I have another one for 1 year later...dunno ifi should post it...what do you think? It was over quickly but please post on how you find this chapter. Oh by the way, for the puspose of the story, Kate and Jack broke up before he met Chase, so it wasn't te Salazar/heroin addiction that got in the way...XxX

"I gotta go. Car's here. Do nothing with the…brats… until I get to you!" she flipped the phone close, the words sticking in her throat. She started to breathe heavily, tears already streaking down her face a lowmoan escaping her lips. Jack turned and looked at her grabbing hold of her shoulders, catching a glimpse of an approaching car. A wild fear in his eyes.

"What's up?" he asked but she couldn't say anything. He shook at her shoulders. "Sophia"

"You got a daughter?" she asked. He nodded his head, scared already. "I got twin girls. Francois has them. All three of them. He's going to run the PCP testing on them." Jack stepped back, his mind blank, not his beautiful daughter, not again. His thoughts of Kim suddenly left him. The only way they were going to get them back alive would be if they pulled this off.

"Sophia, look at me. The only way we'll get them back is if we keep a clear head. We have to pull this operation off and we can go home ALL of us alive." He ordered, he glanced back the car was almost level. She nodded, understanding, getting over the initial shock. She was CIA field Agent Summers, MI6 field Agent Summers, and god dammit she was now CTU field Agent Summers. She had to compartmentalise, to push the fear about her kids down in to a dark recess somewhere and draw on the anger and pain she felt to pull off a performance of a lifetime. She quickly dried her eyes, as Jack opened the car door, and she slid in. She breathed in deeply.

"Mademoiselle, qui est l'homme?" a mans voice asked from the front of the vehicle. Jack slid in next to her, straightening his back, as a bodyguard might do.

"Il est mon partenaire. Il as m'aidé avec un problème." She replied in French, finding a new strength within her. He helped her with a problem, like puling herself togather she thought.

"Of course. Mr Francois, said there might be." the man said. He started their drive to where ever they were headed. She looked over at Jack. He was pale, and she could feel the energy building around him. She placed an arm on his shoulder, reassuring him. He looked at her as though he'd been woken from a long thought process and smiled at her blandly.

"Where are we going?" Jack asked leaning forward, changing his accent s lightly.

"You know where we're going. To see Mr Francois." The driver answered simply.

"Yeah but are we taking the long way or the short way?" Jack tried again.

"We'll be there in an hour Sir. It's not in my best interests to talk to you," The driver answered him almost nervously. Suddenly a glass window in between the backseats and the driving seats rose up, cutting them off, not that they minded. Jack sat back against the leather interior, feeling exhausted from all the emotions he just been pushed through.

"God I'm tired," Sophia told him, absently. Apparently, she was feeling the same.

"We need our energy. Doze off for half an hour, then I'll wake you up and you keep watch whilst I sleep." He tried.

"Screw that. No offence but im not sleeping. Could you?" she asked, eyebrow raised.

"No. No I couldn't. We'll just wait."

They watched the traffic passing them by. People driving to work for an evening shift., dropping their kids off at party's or gymnastics. Eventually the traffic and amount of people slowed down, until they just passed trees.

"Who was the ring for?" Sophia asked gently, wanting to talk about something, anything and it was the first thing that came in to her head. Jack sighed.

"An ex-girlfriend, Kate, I thought I was going to be with her forever, but, well, the job got in the way…" he trailed off. "What about you? You still with your childrens father?"

"Phoebe and Joscelyn's dad was an asshole. Well he wasn't but it makes me feel better thinking of him like that," she smiled weakly at her own words, "he couldn't bare to watch what this work does to the ones he loved. Whenever he saw me, which wasn't very often, I'd have bruises, or people I knew would be dead. He couldn't watch that. But he's great with the kids.

"What was that about your mum?" Jack asked again, he saw her wince a little bit. "If you don't want to say anything it's ok…"

"Nah forget it. My mother's a feminist. I was the greatest mistake in her life, stopped her having a career. She paid ridiculous university fees so I could have a shiny career. Then I got pregnant and I'd repeated her mistakes. She stopped speaking to me. My dad's great, he lives in LA and he worships the girls, spoils them too." She told him.

He was about to speak when he stopped as they pulled in to an old abandoned warehouse. They snapped out of their dazes and started to look around. The whirr of the glass rolling down in front of them told them they were about to get information.

"Monsieur Francois will meet you in here soon," he told them. They got out of the car and stretched their legs, they'd grown stiff from sitting down so long. As their car drove off, Jack pulled out his cell phone and called Michelle.

"Michelle, did you get our location from our phones?" Jack asked quietly, while Sophia had ears and eyes on alert for the sound of people approaching.

"Yeah we did Jack. François is in the immediate area, his cell phone was traced back to where you are now so we have teams setting up a perimeter as we speak," Michelle told him, "Don't worry, we'll have you out soon. But we need confirmation that Francois is there."

"I understand Michelle, but there's a twist. He has hostages. He has Kim and Sophia's children. Two girls," Jack told her… Sophia was looking at him. Tears were welling in his eyes at the mention of Kim but he blinked them away.

"Ok, Jack ,we'll do everything we can to get them out safely…" Michelle began.

"Jack Bauer," a thick accented voice interrupted his call.

"I'm not sure where we are. I'll have to call you back Michelle," he said lying slightly, feigning being lost,as he clicked the phone close. Francois was standing behind Sophia, gun aimed at her head, arm around her throat.

"Twice in a day huh Jack," she quipped sarcastically. Francois tightened his grip around her throat forcing her to stand on her tip toesand she shut up.

"I had a tip off that you were meeting my escort. Friendly lady, name of Neve, remember?" Francois taunted. Of course he remembered, the vivid red hair, the receptionist. Jack gritted his teeth.

"What do you want? I can get it. I have the president prepared to listen to what I have to say," Jack tried. Sophia watched him. He was calm and cool under pressure, she gave him that, she trusted him though, more than anything. With her life, the life of millions of Americans, with her children's life.

"I want to release PCP to the world, you think he'll let me do that?" Francois sneered. "You let millions of people die every year whether it be American soldiers or foreign men. Why? For pride Jack, so everyone know's America is the biggest and most powerful country i nthe world. So tell me Sophia Summers, are you proud of this country?"

"Yes," Sophia snapped. "I'm more proud of this country than anything in this God-damn world and if I have to die for it than so be it!" Jack saw her anger and her strength surfacing. She was ready for action.

"Jack Bauer what about you?"

"Yes," Jack told him. Jack remained still for the whole encounter; he was feeling the environment he was in. Where were CTU? The sun was coming down, casting eerie shadows all over the walls.

"Well, I might have to change that. You have a choice," at the mention of a choice three more men came into the room, each holding a child. He felt a lump in the back of his throat but he controlled it.

"Daddy," a tall blonde girl whispered. Jack looked at her, his face expressionless.

"Mummy!" the youngest two screamed and tried to kick their way free from the people who held them. The brunette girl was given a slap. Sophia jerked.

"Touch them again and I swear to god I will hurt you so much…" she yelled, but Francois held her still.

"You can choose to save your country by killing me, letting CTU storm it, yes Jack I know they're here, passive triangulation – little on the old side technology wise" he sneered taunting them. "Or, you can save her life and I release PCP, or you can save the children's life and I release PCP". Francois smiled at himself, proud of his little plan. He looked at Sophia she trusted him. He knew whatever choice he made, she felt his pain.

"Release the PCP then. Do it," Jack shouted. Francois faced dropped. In that split second, Sophia swivelled her body, grabbed the gun in Francois hand and pushed it up away from her head. She kicked him between the legs and in the moment of pain, his grip on his weapon was loosened. She snatched it from his hand, kicking him in the back of his legs and forcing him to the floor. He was surprised by her muscle. Three rounds were fired, one for each guard holding one of their children. It hit them square in their temples. The two youngest children began screaming. 10 men dressed in CTU garb flooded the warehouse. Sophia was still holding the gun, keeping Francois on the ground, before agents, handcuffed him. She dropped to her knees as the girls ran to her and hugged her. She held them hard kissing their foreheads.

"Ssh, babies, its ok mummy's here," she soothed. Jack was doing the same with, Kim. She was pretty Sophia thought.

"Search the entire facility!" someone commanded. A surge of people spread all over the building. She stood up and took Pheobe and Joscelyn by the hands, leading them over to Jack. She stopped just before she reached him, not wanting to interrupt.

"Thanks," she told him gratefully. She smiled a big smile, and he felt the butterflies again and blushed slightly, only enough for Kim to notice.

"We got the drug," someone shouted from a small back room. They barely heard.

"I'll take the girl's to get a drink and some food." she said holding out her hands. The twins reluctantly took hold after a gentle squeeze and a wink from their mother. They watched them as they walked off over to the helicopters, that had since landed and that no one had noticed in the confusion.

"Please I didn't do much," he replied answering her earlier comment.

"You saved my kids." She answered back. An awkward silence filled the space between them. A CTU agent started to usher them over to a helicopter to get checked out.

"So," Jack said as they walked slowly outside, "As good as my reputation?" he teased.

"Hmmm, I think so…" she replied giving another big smile, relief of having her children back and being alive taking over.

"You didn't do too bad yourself you know!" he told her.

"I know!" she answered back. He laughed for the first time in a day, for the first time in a long time if he remembered rightly.

"You want to grab a coffee, when we get back?" he asked.

"Eager.A little soon don't you think?" Sophia teased him. Nothing was too soon now. Both Jack and Sophia knew it. They had been through a lot in such a small space of time. They probably knew how each other worked better than a lot of other people just from an operation. But that's what this job did, made you know people, trust people, and he knew from Tony and Michelle that it could make you love. They trusted each other with their lives, and they earned that trust.

"Sure. It's a date." She answered smiling. With that she ran up to her children again. He watched her and smiled to himself. Maybe life would look a little brighter, Kim walked over and he hugged her again, before getting on the helicopter to take him home.