24: Surrender

Characters: Nina M, Jack B.

Genre: Romance/Drama

24: Surrender

Chapter 1

Yet another long day at the Counter Terrorist Unit in Los Angeles has finally come to an end. This has probably been the longest day of my working life; my partner (and boss) has been a complete ass, district management has been breathing down my back, and the betting pools are starting to get on my nerves. I'm sick of everyone assuming that since I'm friends with Jack Bauer, I therefore must be sleeping with him. That's not true, regardless of whether or not I want it to be…

Speaking of the devil, he's marching up the stairs towards his office at this very moment. He doesn't seem as pissed as he was before; he just seems tired, forlorn. Broken. I hate seeing him like this, hate feeling like there's nothing I can do to ease whatever pain he's going through right now.

My phone rings, and I pick it up, my mind blank. "CTU; this is Myers," I answer.

"Nina, it's Tony," a low, clear voice breathes. "You seem kinda distracted. Everything okay?"

"Uh, yeah," I reply quickly. "I'm fine, Tony."

"Do you know what's up with Jack?" he asks me. "Something's pissing him off, and he's not acting very professional."

"You're one to talk. Cut the crap and stop acting like you care about 'professional', Tony," I snap.

He looks across the bullpen and shoots me a confused, angry face.

"Because you know," I continue, "I could easily ask Lisa Tyler from forensics about your definition of professional…"

His face hardens, and his entire body stiffens. "No one was supposed to know about that," he whispers, a hint of panic filling his voice. It's not much, but it's just enough for me to take advantage of.

"Hey," I say nonchalantly. "Wasn't like I was snooping or anything. I happen to network in this community, and according to my sources, betting pools were running pretty high about how long it would take for that to happen."

He grunts something unintelligible under his breath, then says, "Why are you blackmailing me about this, Nina?"

I roll my eyes. "I'm not, Tony," I say patronizingly, like a mother would to her misbehaving son. "Look, I'll take care of whatever's going on with Jack. Can you hold down the fort until then?"

His eyes narrow, and for a second, I'm worried that he won't agree.

"Fine," he grumbles.

I barely contain the sigh of relief attempting to escape my throat. "Thanks," I say, only to realize that I'm speaking to a dial tone.

"Always knew I could count on you, Almeida…"

I tap on the door to Jack's office quickly, three times in succession. Like usual, I expect him to be opening the door for me within about five seconds. When, after a minute, the door is still blatantly closed in my face, I start to get worried.

"Jack?" I call. "It's Nina. Is everything okay?"

He doesn't answer, and a pit begins to form in my churning stomach. I take out my key to his office, shove it into the lock, and turn it to the left, my hands shaking violently. As the door opens and I walk into the sleek, modern Director's office, Jack practically jumps out of his seat.

"Nina," he says, startled. "What are you doing here?"

I'm surprised at the man sitting before me. Normally so vibrant, outgoing, and assertive, Jack seems about ten years older as he rests his chin on his right hand, his eyelids about to flutter shut.

"Just wanted to make sure you were okay," I say as calmly as I can, taking a seat on the dark green couch.

"Why wouldn't I be okay, Nina?" he asks harshly.

"I don't know," I reply coolly. "Why don't you tell me? I'm your partner; I'm not going to judge you."

Jack swivels around his chair to face me and looks into my eyes. God, it's like he knows just what he's doing to me – every time I see those blue-green eyes of his, I simply melt. They're not normal, though. They're brimming with tears, something that, when it comes to Jack, I've never seen before.

"Jack, you're starting to scare me," my voice cracks. "Tell me what's going on."

He sighs shakily. After a few moments, he opens his mouth and says slowly, "I moved out yesterday."

What?

"What do you mean, you moved out?" I ask. "Did something happen between you and Teri?"

Jack becomes fascinated with a dark brown coffee stain on the rug near my feet. "You remember that operation we had in San Diego?"

"Operation Daybreak? The undercover one from three months ago?" I ask. It was an extremely harsh mission; Jack's a stoic agent, but after he came back, I could sense something was wrong. Something still is wrong, honestly.

In a low gravelly voice, he continues. "Since my…harsh experiences with that, things haven't exactly been great at home. Teri hasn't realized how much that mission affecting me." His voice cracks a little as he says, "She doesn't understand why I can't quit, either."

Oh, Jack. I can't help it, no matter how hard I try; my heart bleeds for him.

"So she kicked you out for becoming distant," I reply. It's not so much a question as a confirmation.

He nods his head slowly.

"What about Kim?" I ask, concerned. Kimberly is the apple of her father's eye; though I've never met her, he talks about his fifteen-year-old daughter so much that I feel like she's my daughter.

Crap. I'm moving into a very, very bad place with those thoughts…

"She's not taking it well," he replies matter-of-factly. "She begged me to let her move in with her. You can guess what my response was."

"You shut out your own daughter?" I ask in disbelief.

"Her mother needs her," he replies stoically, "and I can't take Kim away from Teri like that."

"But what about what Kim wants? What about what you want? Don't you want to have Kim in your life, no matter what happens with Teri?" I argue.

"You think I haven't considered that? Damn it, Nina, I'm trying!" he yells.

There's a pregnant pause; it feels like there's a giant elephant in the room; his martyr complex. I tell him so.

Needless to say, he explodes.

As he throws expletives at me much like a terrorist would throw grenades, I tune what he's saying out, simply staring at him intently.

When he stops, I ask calmly, "Are you finished?"

He looks up at me, his jaw clenched. "I'm going home," he says abruptly, standing up from his chair and beginning to hurriedly shove files into his patent black briefcase. When he sees I'm still sitting on the couch, watching him with a concerned look on my face, his own face softens. "Go back to work, Nina," he says.

He sounds authoritative, but there's something else twisted in there. Is he being… tender?

"I'll be fine," he assures me as he stomps towards the door. I quickly leap in front of him, effectively blocking is way out.

"What the hell are you doing?" he says, his voice hardening.

I take a shaky breath. "There's no way I'm letting you drive alone, Jack," I reply. "You'll kill yourself in this state. Now, hand me your keys."

Jack looks like he wants to argue, but something in him seems to crumple. In a move unusual for him, he hands over the keys without any sort of threat or protest.

"Good," I say. "Let's go."

I place my hand gently on his shoulder, lingering just a few seconds longer than I should be. He doesn't seem to mind, though, as we walk down the stairs and through the bullpen. I notice Tony shoot both me and Jack daggers. We stop by his desk, and the party seems to get even more fun.

"What're you doing, Nina?" he asks.

"Jack needs a ride home," I say calmly.

"Why?" he presses.

"His car broke down," I say impatiently. "And Teri's working late. Now would you please excuse us?"

As Jack and I walk out the front doors, I wonder just how much I'll have to cover for him… and how much I'll be able to cover the odd warmth that flares up in my chest every time he's around.