Hi! Like a bad penny, I’ve turned up again! My muse and I have argued long and loud about this one. I’ve told her that fluff just isn’t my style. Not that I don’t write fluff, but I’d like to think I write “fluff with substance”! – and from my perspective, this is just fluff. Anyway, my muse, who was finally smart enough to invest in #30 sunscreen, had come home from the pool one rainy day and talked me into writing this. She feels that many of us were lacking resolution from the season 6 finale and needed to find that resolution. And that is what the story is all about: finding resolution for the major players, although I must admit it is largely a Karen/Bill story.

The story will be told from different perspectives. Chapter 1 takes picks up just as season 6 ends and Bill is returning to CTU. It will be from his perspective. Later chapters will be told from the perspectives of others. So sit back and read. Let me know what you think. I’ve convinced myself that this isn’t as good as my other stories, but I still wanted to write it, if only to give myself some season 6 resolution.

DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognizable characters are the property of FOX.

SEASON 6: The Resolution

Chapter 1: Bill

5:45 am Los Angeles, California

Bill Buchanan let out a quiet sigh of relief as he set the chopper down on the helipad at CTU. It was a lot easier landing there than it had been landing on the oil platform but still, he was happy to put the bird down. He hadn’t flown in years and graceful landings had never been his forte anyway, so doing it again with no simulator practice had been nerve wracking.

The landing crew ran to the chopper as the rotors slowed down. They all looked at their former boss with awe and surprise. None of them knew that he had piloted helicopters for a short time many years ago.

“Nice landing, sir,” the crew chief told him. “Ms. Yassir is waiting for you inside.”

“Thanks,” Bill replied. He angled his head toward Cheng and spoke to the crew chief, “Secure the prisoner.” He spoke as if he were still in a position to give orders and the crew chief responded as if Bill were still his boss giving Bill a nod and a “Yes, sir.” “Come on, Josh,” Bill said as he reached out to help Josh Bauer from the chopper. “Your mother’s waiting inside.”

They all headed into CTU. Bill faced the moment with mixed emotions. He had the satisfaction of knowing that he had Cheng in custody and the son of a bitch would finally pay for what he had done to Jack and Audrey. He had also brought Josh safely back to his mother. Those were both worthy accomplishments. On the other hand, in the process of doing that, he had broken every rule in the book and he was going to be arrested and charged with every one of them. The good outcome might make a jury feel a little generous but even the best lawyer wasn’t going to get him off scot-free. And 3000 miles away Karen was facing the same fate. His greatest fear was not going to prison for his actions but being kept away from Karen for years and, perhaps, for the rest of his life. He had to acknowledge that at 53 years of age, if he received a 25 year sentence, he could well die in prison having never seen his wife again.

On top of it all, Bill was confused by his feelings for Karen. He feared what would happen to her and the possibility of not seeing her again, but at the same time, he was still angry and hurt by her actions. Deep down he understood why she did what she did, but in the less rational, more emotional part of his brain, all he could think was that the only woman he had ever really loved had let him down and she had let him down hard. When she called him to tell him that she was about to be arrested, he had responded to her saying, “I love you very much” with a noncommittal “Me, too.” That wasn’t a lie. He did love her. He loved her more than he had ever loved anyone, but he wasn’t sure that he could ever completely forgive her.

Bill’s mind came back to the present as he rounded a corner and saw a frantic Marilyn Bauer step anxiously from the conference room. “There’s your mother,” Bill told Josh. He smiled as the boy ran to her and hugged her.

Then it was on to Cheng. “You’ll be debriefed at the Federal building,” he told the prisoner.

“My people will never abandon me the way you abandoned Jack Bauer!” Cheng spat.

“Get him out of here,” Bill said angrily, but Cheng had struck a chord. The government had abandoned Jack and Bill felt guilty. Yes, some attempts had been made to secure Jack’s release from the Chinese, but other than those led by Audrey Raines, they were half-hearted at best. Jim Heller along with others had made some overtures to the newly sworn in President Hal Gardner, but Gardner felt he had more pressing issues in the wake of the Charles Logan scandal. For over a year, Bill and Karen had fought side-by-side with Audrey until her supposed death, but then even they gave up the fight. Bill had hoped to resurrect the cause with the election of Wayne Palmer to the Presidency and Karen’s high position within the administration. In fact, it was one of the reasons that he had so strongly encouraged her to take the position of National Security Advisor. But with the terrorist attacks starting just days after Palmer took office, any hope of bending the new President’s ear regarding the issue of Jack Bauer was pushed to the back burner.

Bill turned and saw Nadia descending the steps from the director’s office. They exchanged greetings and compliments. Nadia asked where Jack was and Bill explained. He knew that Nadia didn’t understand, which was what he expected. Unless you knew Jack, his actions made little sense, while to Bill, they were perfectly clear.

“I guess that leaves us with just one more order of business,” Bill started. “I’ll surrender to you here. It’s pointless for me to leave and have the FBI arrest me at home.”

Nadia smiled. “That won’t be necessary, sir,” she told him.

“What?”

“I just got off the phone with Tom Lennox. He said that the Vice President has pardoned both you and your wife. I’ll have to ask for your resignation and there’s about a ream of paperwork for you to fill out, but after that, you’ll be free to go. Your service record will be clean and you’ll receive a full pension. The FBI team at your house is gone, too. I got a call from the Special Agent in Charge of the LA field office and he said they had an order direct from the White House to cease and desist. So he told his team to return any confiscated items to your house and to return to the field office.”

Bill stared at her in disbelief. “What made Vice President Daniels change his mind?”

Nadia shrugged. “Lennox didn’t say, but it was going to be hard to prosecute you and Karen after you and Jack successfully rescued Josh Bauer. How was Daniels going to defend his actions? He put a 15 year old boy at risk; basically wrote him off as an acceptable loss. That wasn’t going to go over well with the American people, even if the ultimate goal was to stop a war with the Russians. Pardoning the two of you keeps this from becoming front page news. When you sign the pardon agreement, you’ll also be agreeing not to make the story public. In a way, Daniels is buying your silence, but at least to me, those sound like terms you can live with.”

Bill nodded, his relief was obvious. “I can definitely live with it. I’m sure Karen can, too. Have you talked to Karen? Does she know that I’m safe?” That was the rational part of him talking again. Even if he was angry with her, he didn’t want Karen to worry about him.

Nadia nodded. “Lennox had one of his people tell her. She asked to be patched through to you, but at the time she was still under arrest and the request was denied. When I got off the phone with Lennox, he said that Karen was writing a resignation and completing paperwork. When she’s finished in about an hour, she’ll be escorted from the White House. You should be able to get in touch with her after that. Oh, by the way, Jack will get a pardon, too, if he ever surfaces,” Nadia added. “Apparently the consensus was that they couldn’t charge him if you and Karen weren’t charged and after spending the last 20 months in a Chinese prison, he deserved to be cut some slack. Besides that, a good defense attorney would have pleaded some form of insanity after being tortured by the Chinese and a jury probably would have agreed.”

“Good. I’m glad someone finally came to their senses with regards to Jack. He needs some peace,” Bill said. “Now maybe he can resume his life with Audrey and find some happiness.”

“I’m not so sure about that. Secretary Heller swore out a restraining order against Jack. He can’t get within 1500 feet of Audrey.”

“Why?” Bill asked. “What possible reason could he have for keeping Jack and Audrey apart?”

“He blames Jack for what happened to his daughter,” Nadia explained. “I tried to talk to him. I explained the Jack was the only person who Audrey responded to while she was in CTU custody and he didn’t care. He told me that it was none of my business and he got a judge to issue a restraining order.”

Bill shook his head. “I’ll talk with him later. Maybe I’ll have better luck than you, but I’m not counting on it. Heller’s a crusty old guy and once he makes up his mind he doesn’t change it easily.”

“Good luck with that. Listen, I really want to get over to the hospital to see how Doyle is doing. I’ve signed out to the shift commander so he knows what’s going on. Morris is setting up for your debrief in conference room 1.”

“Morris is doing the debrief? Why not Chloe?”

“Chloe’s in medical right now. She collapsed about an hour ago and had to be taken to medical for treatment.”

“Collapsed? Is she alright?”

“I don’t have details, but I think that it was just exhaustion and dehydration. You can stop and see her if you like. Morris might be back there with her,” Nadia told him.

“I doubt that. They were on the outs when I left here a few hours ago. Morris wanted a transfer out of communications and into another department.”

“I know, he told me that, but since Chloe collapsed he’s been hanging around medical like an anxious husband. I’m not sure what’s going on between them.”

“Okay,” Bill said running his hand through his hair. He was exhausted and just wanted to get the debrief over with and go home to get some rest. “I’ll find Morris and debrief. You go see Doyle. Give him my best.”

“I’ll do that, sir,” Nadia said. She extended her hand and shook hands with Bill. “Good luck to you. It was an honor working with you for the last few months.”

“Thank you. I feel the same way about you,” Bill returned with a smile. “By the way, Jack told me what happened to Milo. I’m sorry. I know you cared for him.”

Nadia looked away, her eyes filling with tears. “He died protecting me,” she whispered in an emotion filled voice. “When they asked who was in charge, I hesitated. It should have been me that they killed.” She hastily wiped away tears and tried to gain her composure.

“Don’t blame yourself, Nadia. You’ll drive yourself crazy if you do,” Bill wisely advised her.

Nadia bit her lip to keep from crying and nodded. “I’ll try to remember that.” She glanced around awkwardly as if she was looking around trying to find something for her eyes to rest on that didn’t bring back some bad memory. “I better get going,” she said.

Bill watched her go and then headed for medical. Realistically, he was a civilian now and shouldn’t be walking unescorted around CTU, but no one made any attempt to stop him. Instead, virtually everyone congratulated him on his successful mission and wished him well in the future. He walked into the medical unit and was again greeted with smiles and congratulations by the staff there. He thanked everyone and asked the nurse in charge if he could see Chloe. She directed him down the hall to room 3.

Bill reached the room in a matter of seconds. The door was ajar and it wasn’t much of a surprise to hear Chloe and Morris arguing.

“I’m fine, Morris. I can drive myself home,” Chloe snarled.

“Bloody hell, Chloe!” Morris ranted. “You collapsed an hour ago. You are not driving yourself home. Wait until I finish debriefing Mr. Buchanan and I’ll take you home myself.”

Bill knocked lightly to get their attention and then leaned into the room. “I hope I’m not interrupting something,” he said. “I just wanted to see how you were doing, Chloe.”

“She’s as stubborn as ever, Mr. Buchanan,” Morris told him throwing up his hands in exasperation. “Explain to her that she needs to rest and that she shouldn’t be driving right now.”

Bill smiled and raised his hands as if in defeat. “I’m staying out of this one. Why don’t you ask the doctor and let him make the decision?”

“Because I’m fine and I don’t need to be waited on hand and foot!” Chloe retorted. “Pregnant women in third world countries work in the fields until they're ready to deliver and nobody worries whether they get enough rest or not.”

“We are not in a third world country, Love. We’re in the United States. Here we expect pregnant women to take care of themselves so they have the best possible chance of having a healthy baby,” Morris replied calmly.

“Am I missing something?” Bill interrupted. “Chloe, are you…” He couldn’t finish the sentence. It was almost too bizarre to be real.

“The word is ‘pregnant’. And yes, I am.”

Bill, speechless, looked between Morris and Chloe not quite sure what to say. It wasn’t until he realized that both of them were smiling that he smiled as well. “Congratulations!” he told Morris as he reached out to shake his hand. Then he stepped closer to Chloe’s bedside and hugged her. “Congratulations,” he repeated, not sure what else to say. He couldn’t quite imagine Chloe and Morris as parents but after the day they had had and the carnage that they had seen, a new life was a special gift and he hoped that they took advantage of that gift as a chance to start over. “I’m sure you two will be great parents,” he said with a smile as if he really believed it. The truth was that internally he was cringing at the thought. He pushed the thought out of his mind and turned to Morris. “Morris, if we can get my debriefing over with you two can go home and get some rest. And Chloe,” he started as he turned toward her. “I’m not qualified to give you orders any more, but I think Morris is right. Wait for him to finish up and then he can take you home. In a few months when that baby is crying at three o’clock in the morning, you’ll be begging for some rest and relaxation. Take advantage of it now.”

Chloe smiled. “Maybe you’re right, sir. Maybe I will take advantage of it.”

Morris and Bill left the medical unit and headed for the conference room. As they walked through the bull pen, Marilyn Bauer stepped out of the room where Josh was being debriefed.

“Mr. Buchanan,” she called.

Bill stopped and turned to Morris. “Go ahead and get set up. I’ll be there in a minute.” Morris nodded his agreement and Bill turned to talk to Marilyn. “Mrs. Bauer, what can I do for you?”

“Josh told me how you and Jack risked everything for him. I just don’t know how to thank you. Josh is all I have, Mr. Buchanan. I don’t know what I would have done if I had lost him. So, thank you. Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome,” Bill said with a smile. “It’s really Jack who deserves your thanks. He convinced me that commandeering the helicopter and trying to rescue Josh was the right thing to do.”

“Josh told me that Jack jumped from the helicopter and swam to shore. I don’t understand why he would have done that. Do you know how to get in touch with him?”

Bill smiled. “Jack will contact us when he’s ready. Until then, we just have to trust that he’s fine and that he can take care of himself. He may resurface in a few days or a few months or maybe never, but that has to be his choice. If he ever contacts me, I’ll let him know that you want to have the chance to thank him.”

Marilyn nodded. “Jack always did march to the beat of a different drummer. I guess I understand. There are going to be a lot of estate issues with the company now that Phillip and Graem are both dead. I was hoping that Jack would stay around to help.”

“That’s not Jack’s style. As long as his daughter gets her fair share, I doubt that Jack wants any for himself.”

Marilyn nodded again. “Jack deserves to get half of his father’s estate. If he isn’t there to collect it, I’ll make sure that it goes to Kim.”

“That would make Jack happy,” Bill told her. “I’m sorry, but I have to go and finish debriefing,” Bill said as a way of ending the conversation.

“I understand,” Marilyn said. “I still owe you a huge debt of gratitude. If there is ever anything that I can do for you, please don’t hesitate to call me. Ms. Yassir said earlier that you won’t be working here any longer. If you’re looking for a job, call me. I know we’ll be able to use you when we restructure BXJ. It’s not going to be easy to bring the company back after Phillip’s and Graem’s roles in the terrorist attack become public, but that company is Josh’s and Kim’s legacy. I intend to do everything in my power to bring the company back from the dead. I could use an honest, hard working person like you.”

“Thank you for your confidence, Mrs. Bauer, but I’m not sure where I’m headed after this. I'll think it over and if I’m interested, I’ll call you,” Bill said. He hadn’t given his future any thought; he was simply too tired at the moment to do so. That would be for another day. Both his professional future and his personal future were up in the air for now and it would be at least a day or so before he started sorting them out.

Bill and Morris completed the debriefing as quickly as possible. After that, Bill met with an attorney from the legal department to review and sign his pardon. Nadia wasn’t exaggerating when she said that there was about a ream of paper. Bill eventually stopped counting the number of times he signed his name or initialed a paragraph. Nearly an hour after beginning the process, he signed the final piece of paper, his resignation, and left CTU for one last time.

Bill sighed quietly as he entered his house. As promised, the FBI had returned everything that they were in the process of confiscating when he left to help Jack. They hadn’t put anything away, but all of the boxes that they had packed were now neatly stacked in his den. Exhausted, Bill sat down in his big leather desk chair to try and make some sense of the day past. He noticed the message light on the phone blinking out a pattern that told him he had two messages. He reached a tired hand across the desk and pressed the “play” button.

“Bill, it’s me,” Karen’s voice emanated from the machine. “I’m not sure when to expect you to get home, but please call me when you do. I miss you, Bill, and I love you. I can’t apologize enough for how I treated you earlier. Please, sweetheart, call me. We need to talk.”

Bill deleted the first message and played the second.

“Hi, Sweetheart.” It was Karen’s voice again. “It’s almost 11 o’clock in LA and I thought you’d be home by now. I tried your cell and that was turned off. I’m beginning to worry, Bill. Please call me.”

Bill deleted the second message and reached for the phone’s handset. He knew that he needed to talk to Karen, but he had no idea what he was going to say. He didn’t even know what he wanted to say. Part of him wanted to scream at her and part of him wanted to tell her that he loved her. He knew that what he really needed was about ten hours of uninterrupted sleep so he could at least think clearly.

He pressed the speed dial for Karen’s cell phone and she picked up on the first ring.

“Hello,” Karen said quietly. “I’m so glad you called, Bill. I was starting to worry about you.”

“I’m fine,” he said in an equally soft voice. “How are you holding up?”

“I’m okay. I’m tired but it’s all over now. I’m so proud of what you and Jack did. I was scared to death when they told me that the two of you commandeered a helicopter, but once I knew you were safe, all I could think was how proud I was of you.”

“Thank you. But you played an important role in the rescue. You should be proud of yourself, too,”

“How could I possibly be proud of myself after what I did to you? I can’t believe that I let people pressure me into hurting you the way I did. Bill, I’m so sorry. Please tell me that you forgive me.”

Bill hesitated a long second before responding. “Karen, I’m not going to sit here and tell you that I’m not hurt or that I’m not angry. I will tell you that I understand why you did it. I understand that you were tired and you were being pressured and I’ll even let myself believe that you felt that you had the best interest of the country in mind when you fired me. But while I understand it, it still hurts and it’s going to take me a while to get over that hurt. I’m sure that I will; it’s just going to take time.”

Karen choked back a quiet sob. Bill heard it but chose to ignore it. “Promise me that you’re not giving up on us.”

“I never said I was giving up on us, Karen,” Bill told her. He knew that his voice was unnecessarily cool.

“I was hoping to get a flight to LA as soon as the FAA reopens the airports. I won’t do that it you don’t want me to.”

“Of course I want you to come to LA,” Bill said softening a bit. “Listen, I’m tired and I need to sleep and to think through everything that happened today.”

“Will you call me later?”

“We both need a whole lot of sleep, Karen. Let’s just plan on sleeping today and I’ll call you tomorrow,” Bill suggested. He couldn’t keep the coolness out of his voice and he wasn’t sure why. It was as if he wanted to hurt her; as if he wanted to make her pay for hurting him. It was childish and he knew it, but exhaustion was keeping him from thinking clearly.

“Okay,” Karen whispered. “I’ll talk to you then. I love you, Bill, and I can’t begin to tell you how sorry I am for what I did to you.”

“I know,” Bill returned solemnly. “Get some sleep. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

Bill hung up the phone angry with himself for treating his wife the way he did. It crossed his mind that he should pick the phone back up, call her back and apologize, but he decided against it. Instead, he went upstairs to the bathroom, stripped and stepped into the shower hoping to wash away the last 30 hours of pain and anguish. What he had no way of knowing was that 3000 miles away, Karen had hung up the phone and collapsed, sobbing on her bed. The thought that she might have destroyed her marriage in one phone call was overwhelming her. Her love for her husband was all consuming and knowing that she had hurt him so deeply and now might even lose him was terrifying to her. While Bill showered, Karen cried herself into an exhausted, dreamless sleep.

Bill stepped out of the shower feeling cleaner if not any happier. He dressed in a pair of boxer shorts and walked into the bedroom planning to sleep for the next week. Pulling back the covers, he slipped between the sheets. Tired as he was, sleep was eluding him. His brain was working overtime and swirling with the sounds and images on the previous day. No matter what he tried to think about or concentrate on, the horror of it came back and worst of all, the loudest of the sounds was his last conversation with Karen. Lying in bed, the bed he shared with her, all he could hear was the hurt in her voice. Unable to stand it any longer, he got out of bed, put on a pair of flannel lounge pants and a tee shirt and went downstairs to his den. There, in a room he considered his, not hers, Bill sat down in a reclining chair and promptly fell asleep.

Bill slept soundly for several hours before he was startled awake by the doorbell. He shook his head as if to clear it and looked at the grandfather’s clock that stood in the corner. It was just after 7 o'clock and he had to presume that it was evening rather than morning since it was dark outside. The doorbell sounded again. Bill brought the recliner to an upright position and stood up. He couldn’t imagine who would be at the door. As he passed though the dining room, he glanced out of the window. There was no car in the driveway or on the street to give away the identity of the caller. Bill wasn’t suspicious by nature, but years of working for the CIA had taught him to be cautious. He kept a revolver in the den and thought about going back to get it, when the doorbell rang again. This time it was accompanied by a voice.

“Bill, it’s Jack. Could you open the door?”

Surprised, Bill opened the door. “Jack, what are you doing here? Come in,” he said as Jack stepped across the threshold.

“I’m sorry to bother you, Bill,” Jack said in a quiet apologetic tone. “I don’t mean to intrude. I… I just needed someplace to stay for a day or two until I can get myself together. I don’t want to be a bother, it’s just…”

Bill interrupted. “Jack, you’re not a bother. I’m happy to have the company.”

“You have my word. I’ll only be here for a day or two.” Jack was over apologizing which Bill knew was a trait of his. It was almost as if he was on edge and uncomfortable in his own skin and he needed to be reassured that his presence was not unwelcome.

“Don’t apologize. I’m happy to have you. Come in. I’m sure you need a hot shower and some sleep. Would you like something to eat?”

“Not right now, thanks. Right now I really just want a shower and some sleep.”

Bill walked Jack up the stairs and showed him to the guest bedroom and bath. “There are towels in the bathroom and I’ll leave some lounge pants and a shirt on the bed. Those should fit alright to sleep in. We’re not exactly the same size, so I don’t think you’ll fit into any of my clothes. When you’re finished showering, bring your clothes downstairs and I can throw them in the washer.”

“You don’t have to go to any trouble,” Jack said. His voice was quiet and contrite as if he had done something wrong.

“It’s no trouble, Jack,” Bill assured him. “I’m glad I can help.”

“You’ve already helped me more than you should have today. I’m surprised that you weren’t arrested.”

Bill shook his head. “We were pardoned. All three of us: Karen, you and me. So you don’t have to disappear again, Jack. You can live your life under your own name. You can start over; do whatever you like.”

Jack looked surprised. “We were pardoned?”

“Yes,” Bill returned with a smile.

“I never expected that from Vice President Daniels, but I’ll take it,” Jack said without emotion.

Bill had expected more of a reaction from Jack. The man was simply enigmatic. There was no other word to describe him. No matter how hard Bill tried to read him, he couldn’t, so he didn’t bother to try.

“Go ahead and shower and then come downstairs. I’ll get us some dinner,” Bill offered.

“Thanks, I’d appreciate that,” Jack told him. He seemed to have relaxed a bit and no longer seemed so uncomfortable.

“I won’t guarantee a gourmet meal, but it should be edible.”

“I’m starved. Anything would be great,” Jack told him. “I’ll be down in a few minutes.”

“Take your time,” Bill called over his shoulder as he started down the stairs.

A half hour later Jack descended the stairs wearing Bill’s too-long lounge pants which Jack had cuffed at the bottom to keep from tripping over them. “Something smells good,” he said entering the kitchen. “Wow!” he said as he looked at the stove where Bill had skillets covering all four burners. “You’ve been busy.”

Scrambled eggs cooked in one skillet, while Bill flipped pancakes in another. Fat link sausages sputtered and spat in yet a third pan and the final pan was filled with thinly sliced potatoes, onions and peppers. The aroma made Jack’s mouth water to the point that he had to swallow repeatedly to keep from drooling.

“I’m not much of a cook, but I’m pretty good with breakfast foods. So I thought that was our best bet. I haven’t eaten anything substantial in over 24 hours and I’m sure it’s been at least that long for you.”

Jack smiled ruefully. “I haven’t eaten anything substantial in the last 20 months.”

“I’m sorry, Jack. I didn’t mean that to come out the way it did.”

“Don’t apologize. It’s not your fault.”

“I feel guilty. I feel responsible for what happened to you. Karen and I worked with Audrey to try and bring you home, but once we were told that she was killed, we gave up. You deserved better, Jack. I’m sorry,” Bill said, his eyes downcast.

“Now I’m going to tell you what you told me a little while ago: Don’t apologize. I know you did what you could. You weren’t getting any help from the administration.”

“How did you know that?” Bill asked.

“Jim Heller. He didn’t admit it in so many words, but I could read between the lines.”

“You spoke to Secretary Heller?”

Jack nodded. “I went to his house. I wanted to see Audrey.”

“I thought he had a restraining order against you.”

“He may have had a restraining order, but I had a gun,” Jack said finally allowing himself to smile faintly.

“How’s Audrey?” Bill asked.

“She was sedated while I was there. I didn’t get to talk to her.”

“Did you and Secretary Heller come to an understanding?”

“Yeah, I guess so. He wants me to stay away from Audrey and I agreed to that.”

“What?” Bill asked as he stirred the potatoes so that they would brown evenly. “Why would you have agreed to that?”

“It’s in her best interest, Bill. That’s all I care about.”

“What makes you think that staying away from her is in her best interest? She loves you, Jack. Why do you think she went all the way to China to find you? Jim Heller has no right to tell you to stay away from Audrey. She’s an adult; that decision is for her to make.”

“Well, right now she’s not capable of making that decision and I’ve decided that keeping my distance is in her best interest. She’ll just get hurt again if I try and take care of her.”

“That’s not Jack Bauer talking,” Bill said pointedly. “That’s Jim Heller. Don’t let him force his opinion on you.”

“No one forced an opinion on me. I made this decision myself,” Jack said unable to meet Bill’s gaze.

Bill knew that wasn’t the case, but he wasn’t in the mood to argue. “I made a pot of decaf coffee. I didn’t think we needed caffeine to make us edgier. Help yourself. The eggs and sausage should be done in a minute and we can eat,” he said changing the subject.

A few minutes later, the two sat down to huge plates of food. The conversation waned as they ate. After dinner, both poured a fresh cup of coffee and headed for the den. Both were exhausted but neither was ready to give in and go to bed.

They were walking into the den when Jack picked up a framed picture of Bill and Karen from Bill’s desk. “I guess I never got a chance to congratulate you. How long have you and Karen been married?”

“Our first anniversary was last month,” Bill said wistfully.

“I guess with the terrorist attacks you didn’t get much of a chance to celebrate.”

Bill shook his head slowly. “We haven’t seen each other in three months. I was with Karen in Washington for the inauguration. I helped her settle into an apartment there and then I came back to LA. She was supposed to come back out to LA for the weekend two weeks later, but the attacks started and she never got here. Since then neither of us has had time to breathe let alone take a trip to the opposite coast.”

Jack pointed at a second picture. It was the same one that Karen kept on her desk in DC. “Was that taken on your honeymoon?”

Bill smiled and nodded. “We were on our way to dinner and a photographer took the picture.”

“It looks like Hawaii,” Jack noted.

“No,” Bill told him. “That was taken in Tahiti.”

“Tahiti! Now that’s an exotic honeymoon.”

“It took us our entire lifetimes to find someone that we loved enough to marry. We decided that the honeymoon had to be spectacular. We flew to Australia and spent a week there. Then we went to New Zealand and toured several islands in the South Pacific.”

“It sounds wonderful.” Jack stared at the picture. “I’ve never seen you look so happy. You make a wonderful couple.” Jack continued without looking up to see that Bill had averted his gaze. “Don’t ever take it for granted. Love like that is a gift and it doesn’t come around very often.”

Bill wasn’t quite sure what to say, so he said nothing. Jack continued, “I was lucky enough to find that kind of love twice in my life: first with Teri and then with Audrey. With Teri, I was too young to realize how precious her love was. I took it for granted until we separated. Then I had to figure out how to get it back. By the time I convinced her to reconcile and I had the chance to enjoy that love again, Nina took her away from me. I never thought I’d have the chance to find that kind of love again and then I met Audrey. She made me remember how special that gift is. Don’t ever take Karen’s love for granted, Bill. You never know how long you’ll have it. And if you lose it, you never know if you’ll be lucky enough to find it again.”

Bill nodded so caught up in the emotion that he was temporarily unable to speak. Jack looked sad as he set the picture back down again. “I’m really tired,” he said. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to go upstairs and get some sleep. Thanks again for letting me stay here. I’ll make sure that I’m gone before Karen gets back from DC. After three months apart, I know how much you two need to have time to yourself.”

Bill thanked him and said good night. He watched Jack climb the stairs and then turned back to the picture on the desk. Karen had liked the one of them in Tahiti but he was partial to the one on his desk. It was taken at an engagement party that friends had thrown for them. Just looking at it made Bill smile at the memory. At the same time, Jack’s words of advice flitted around in his mind. Bill set the picture down and headed up the stairs trying to forget the conversation. As he got ready for bed, he continued to push the conversation from his mind but soon found that it wasn’t working. He sighed and sat down on the bed, on their bed.

With that Bill picked up the phone and dialed Karen’s number. It was almost 10 o'clock on the west coast, so it was almost 1 o'clock in the morning in DC and Karen was almost certainly asleep. The phone rang four or five times before she answered it with a sleepy “Hello”.

“Hey, I’m sorry to wake you. I just needed to hear your voice.”

“Bill?” she said. He could hear the surprise in her voice.

“Yeah, it’s me.”

“Is everything alright?” Karen asked now sounding as if she had shaken the cobwebs out of her brain and was thinking clearly.

“I had an idea and I wanted to talk to you about it.”

“Sure, what is it?”

“I was thinking that I really need to get out of LA for a while. Rather than you coming to LA, why don’t I get the first flight out of here and come to DC. Then we can go to Vermont together and spend some time. It would be like a second honeymoon, a chance to start over.”

“Oh, Bill,” Karen gushed. “I love that idea. In fact, if it would be easier, since the airports probably won’t open for at least another two days, I could drive to Vermont and you could fly directly there instead of stopping in DC.”

“That’s a long drive, sweetheart. Are you sure you want to tackle it alone?

“I can do it over two days if I have to, but that way, I can get the place opened up and aired out. I can go grocery shopping. Then when you get there, all of that is done and we can just enjoy ourselves.”

“That sounds great to me. Honey, I’m sorry about our last conversation. I don’t know why I was so cold. I’d like to blame it on being tired, but I’m not sure that was entirely the reason.”

“The reason doesn’t matter, Bill. What matters is that we love each other. I told you that earlier. We can get through this together. We have a lot of decisions to make and we have a lot to talk about, but if we just remember what brought us together in the first place. We’ll be fine.”

“I love you, Karen,” Bill whispered. “I love you so much.”

“I love you, too,” Karen returned. “I can’t wait to see you. I’ll pack up in the morning and head up to Vermont. If we’re lucky, we’ll catch the end of the ski season. They got a lot of snow this year. I bet some of the cross country trails are still well covered.”

Three thousand miles away Bill smiled. He was pretty sure that it was his first real smile in three months. The thought of cross country skiing with his wife through the quiet Vermont countryside far, far away from threat assessments and satellite images and government bureaucrats barking orders at him made him happier than he could imagine.

“I’ll see what I can do about getting the first flight out of here. Whenever it is, it won’t be soon enough for me. Get some sleep. I want you to be wide awake when you’re driving tomorrow. Keep in touch. I’m going to worry about you the whole time.”

“I’ll be fine,” Karen assured him. “Now that I know you still love me, I know that everything is going to be fine. Good night, my love.”

“Good night.”

Thanks for reading to this point. Chapter 2 will take place months later and will be told from Karen’s perspective. I’ll post it as soon as I can. In the meantime, please review and let me know what you think. I’ll be interested in your thoughts.