Sorry this chapter took so long. I didn’t have a lot of time to write and it was slow going when I did have time. I hope it was worth the wait. I also hope that this story does for you what it did for me. It gave me some resolution to season 6 (Hence the clever title of the story!) and some hope for the future - because if there is one thing that the 24 writers are good at, it is sapping the hope out of the hearts of their viewers. This is for all of those viewers who still hold out hope for their favorite characters. Enjoy oh hopeful ones!

Chapter 3: Audrey

Six months later

Audrey walked through the living room of her father’s Malibu beach house and glanced at the neighbor’s house. It was 70 degrees and sunny, but it was Christmas Eve and Audrey couldn’t have felt any gloomier as she watched the seemingly endless stream of cars pull into the neighbor’s driveway. The lights twinkled on their front porch even though it was still broad daylight. The Hamiltons were having their annual Christmas party. Audrey had been invited but had politely declined. She couldn’t imagine being at a party and having to act happy. She watched as Laura Hamilton opened the door for her guests. She hugged and kissed everyone. How dare you be happy! Audrey thought. She closed the blind so that she didn’t have to witness the scene: happy people celebrating Christmas while she sat alone feeling as if her world had fallen apart.

This was Audrey’s first Christmas without her father and she had never felt so alone in her entire life. Last year she was there at the party, with her father. At the time, she had just started to put her life back together after her ordeal in China. True she missed Jack, but she was getting used to that. Her father had told her that Jack came by to see her while she was sedated and explained that although he had promised to take care of her, he knew that he couldn’t and that he hoped she would forgive him. It wasn’t until several months later, as Jim Heller lay dying that he told his daughter the truth. She cried as he explained how Jack had come, gun in hand, ready to take her away with him but that he, Jim, had stopped him. She cried even harder when he told her how Jack sat on the edge of her bed and bid her an emotional farewell telling her that he would always love her. Audrey walked away from her father’s bedside that night hating him. Hating him! She didn’t know if she could ever forgive him, but by the morning she looked at the frail frame of the once vibrant man and knew that she couldn’t stay angry with him. He apologized repeatedly for his actions. Find Jack, he told her. Find him and go to him. Neither of you will be happy until you’re together, he admitted.

Audrey cared for her father until he died. She fulfilled his wish of being buried next to his wife in Albany. Once his estate was settled, Audrey found herself with hours and hours of free time and nothing to do except grieve. Instead, she decided to devote that energy to finding Jack. She spent the next few weeks calling everyone she could think of who might have a clue as to Jack’s whereabouts. She called Bill, Chloe, anyone whose name she remembered from CTU, Marilyn and Kim Bauer, and friends from the DoD. It appeared that Jack told no one where he was going or even hinted at his future plans. Only Bill and Marilyn had spoken to Jack prior to his disappearance. Marilyn spoke with him briefly on two occasions about a month after that regarding Phillip Bauer’s estate but he never told her where he was and she didn’t ask. Kim had been told by CTU that her father was alive, but she, too, had not spoken to him. Audrey had hit a dead end. Jack could be anywhere and he knew how to cover his tracks. There was little point in continuing the search. He would resurface if and when he wanted to. She asked everyone she spoke with to contact her if they heard from Jack and to tell him that she wanted to hear from him. She waited patiently for a few months but got no response.

It was Karen who called her the previous summer and said that Jack had spent a week with them in Vermont. Karen recounted how she and Bill tried to get Jack to contact her but had failed. Audrey was happy just to get that news. At least Jack was safe, even if Karen wouldn’t tell her where he was living, and he would have regular contact with Bill in order to write the series of books they were planning. Audrey hoped that with Bill’s constant prodding, Jack would eventually give in and call her. It was a hope that seemed awfully hollow on this lonely Christmas Eve.

Audrey moped from room to room in the big, airy beachfront house hoping for something to cheer her. She hadn’t decorated nor had she played the Christmas carols that she normally sang from the day after Thanksgiving until she reluctantly put the CDs away a day or two after New Year’s. She plopped heavily onto the sofa and turned on the television. Channel after channel played cheery Christmas movies and specials: Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed on one station, ice skaters at Rockefeller Center on another, Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney on yet another. It was more than Audrey could take and she felt her eyes well with tears as she turned the television off and slapped the remote control down on a coffee table. She was fighting her desire to cry when the doorbell rang. Quickly she swiped a hand across her face to wipe away her tears as she stood and made her way to the door. She wasn’t really expecting anyone, but didn’t think much about who could be at the door. She suspected that it was one of her neighbors encouraging her to come to the party next door.

Audrey opened the door without looking out first and gasped as she did. “Jack,” she whispered almost involuntarily. She stood staring at him unable to take her eyes off of him. He looked wonderful; his hair slightly longer than he usually wore it and his skin a soft golden tan. He was dressed in GQ casual: a pair of faded blue jeans, a cream-colored, V-neck sweater and a butter-soft looking, brown, leather bomber jacket.

“Merry Christmas, Audrey,” he said softly. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything. I just wanted to drop these off,” he said as he held out two wrapped packages, “and then I’ll leave.”

“No! No, please, come in. I wasn’t doing anything but feeling sorry for myself. I wish you’d come in,” Audrey stammered. She stepped back and held the door open to allow Jack entry.

“Are you sure? It looks like there’s a party next door. I thought maybe you’d be going to it,” Jack said awkwardly.

Audrey smiled. “They invited me but I declined. I didn’t think I’d be very good company today. Please, come in.”

Jack finally stepped into the entrance, the same one that he had walked into more than a year-and-a-half before with his gun drawn ready to take Audrey away from her father by force if necessary.

“You… you look good, Audrey,” Jack stammered

“Thanks,” Audrey mumbled looking down at the floor tiles.

“Here,” Jack said holding the presents out in front of him. “These are for you. You can put them under your Christmas tree and open them in the morning,” he suggested. Audrey knew that he was talking just to fill dead air.

“Thank you,” Audrey whispered again as she took the gifts from him. “Would you like to come in and sit down? I could make some coffee.”

“I don’t want you to go to any trouble,” Jack said shaking his head.

“It’s no trouble. Of course, if you have other plans, I understand,” Audrey added hastily.

“No, no, I don’t have any plans. I was just going to drop these off and head back to the marina.”

“The marina? Are you staying at a hotel there?” Audrey asked as she backed up so that Jack could enter.

He took a tentative step forward as if he wasn’t quite sure what to do. “No, I’m staying on The Escape.” Audrey recognized the name of Phillip Bauer’s yacht. “The boat is actually considered part of BXJ’s property, but Marilyn never uses it. She wanted to turn the ownership over to me, but since I wasn’t planning on using it for a while, I had her store it in dry dock. When I decided to come back to LA for a while, I had it put back in the water at the marina. It gives me a place of my own to stay. I hate living out of a hotel.”

Audrey continued to walk through the entrance to a glass enclosed patio that overlooked the Pacific Ocean. She set the presents down on a table there and then turned to go into the kitchen. Jack followed docilely. “Are you spending Christmas with Kim?”

Jack shook his head and looked down. “No, she still doesn’t want to see me. We spoke briefly. I had some presents for her. I gave them to Marilyn to deliver.”

“I’m sorry, Jack. I know how much that hurts you. Keep in contact with her and I think she’ll come around some day. At some point she’s going to realize how wonderful it is to have a father and that turning her back on you is a mistake.”

“I hope so,” Jack said in a virtually inaudible whisper. They were both silent for a moment. “Audrey, I was sorry to hear about your father. He was a good man. I know how much you miss him.”

Audrey smiled vaguely and stared with unnecessarily intense concentration at the coffee maker as she filled the reservoir with water. “He was a son-of-a-bitch, Jack, and you of all people should know that.”

“Don’t say that, Audrey. He loved you more than anything in the world. He would have given his life to protect you and make sure you were happy.”

“I know he loved me and I loved him. He may have been a son-of-a-bitch but he was my father and he did what he thought was best for me. I don’t fault him, I really don’t, but what he did to you, what he said to you, was wrong. He had no right to call you ‘cursed’ or to forbid you to see me.”

“He was just trying to protect you. Believe me, Audrey, as a father, I understood where he was coming from. Don’t think for a minute that I wouldn’t do the same thing if I thought someone was a threat to my own daughter.”

Audrey poured the coffee into two large mugs and handed one to Jack. “Let’s go sit down,” she suggested.

She picked up a plate of Christmas cookies that a friend had made for her and led Jack back to the enclosed patio where they sat down. She chose a sofa hoping that Jack would sit next to her, but was disappointed when he chose a chair. Both sipped coffee silently for a moment and then, almost grateful for a diversion, each reached toward the table to pick up a cookie.

“Good cookies,” Jack said. Audrey knew that he was looking for absolutely anything to break the tension. “Did you bake them?”

“No, my neighbor did. I just couldn’t face any of the Christmas traditions this year. I didn’t even decorate or put up a Christmas tree,” she said shrugging. She turned her head away and blinked back tears.

“Why don’t you open your presents,” Jack suggested. Again, Audrey was sure that he was just trying to fill the silence. He picked up the first box and handed it to her. “Go ahead. Open it.”

“This was sweet of you. You shouldn’t have,” Audrey said slipping her hand under the seam of the red foil paper.

Jack smiled a slow, half-smile. “I saw that one,” he pointed to the one she was opening, “in a market in Damascus and I knew you would like it. The other one came from Bethlehem. It seemed fitting to give it to you for Christmas.”

“Damascus and Bethlehem?” Audrey said incredulously. “So that’s where you’ve been hiding! I have this feeling that you weren’t in the Middle East as a tourist.”

Jack looked at the floor like a child caught in a lie. “Actually you’re only partially right. I was in Bethlehem as a tourist.”

“But not in Damascus?”

“No,” Jack said finally meeting her gaze. “I was in Damascus and about half of the Middle East for the last eighteen months gathering information on terrorist cells for the Israeli intelligence service.”

“You were working for the Mossad?”

Jack nodded and sighed. He stood and walked to the window and stared out at the ocean. Audrey sat with the partially opened gift on her lap and said nothing. She knew him well enough to realize that he was taking the moment to decide exactly how much he could tell her about the last eighteen months of his life. It was at least two minutes before he spoke. His back was still facing her.

“When I came here that morning after the terrorist attacks, with my gun, I had no intention of leaving you here. I wanted to take you away and care for you. I wanted to make sure that no one ever hurt you again. I was so full of guilt and so angry with myself for what happened to you.”

“Jack,” Audrey interrupted. “None of that was your fault. I went to China to try and broker a deal. It wasn’t your fault that you were kidnapped and what happened to me wasn’t your fault. Don’t ever feel guilty for that. I was never angry with you and I never blamed you.”

“I know that, Audrey,” Jack said as he finally turned and sat down beside her. He took her hands in his. Audrey couldn’t help but notice the scars on his hands. “The rational part of my brain knows that none of it was my fault, but the irrational part tells me that if I had never gotten involved with you years ago in Washington, that you wouldn’t have ended up being tortured in a Chinese prison.”

He continued. “The truth, Audrey, is that your father was partially right. Emotionally I was in no position at that moment to take care of you. I had a lot of guilt and anger and pain that I had to work through. You needed medical care and therapy and a secure environment that I simply wasn’t prepared to give you at that moment. Where your father was wrong was asking me to stay away from you forever. But in my emotional state at the time, what he was saying made sense to me. He played upon my fears of you getting hurt or targeted again. When I saw you, lying in your bed sleeping so peacefully, I made an emotional decision to leave and not come back. It was one of the worst decisions that I’ve ever made but at the time I thought it was in your best interest. Now I know that I was simply responding to your father’s suggestion. I was still acting like a kidnapping victim. I believed that everything was my fault and that I should be punished for it by having to live without you. So, I left here with a broken heart to try and put my life back together.”

Audrey took her hands away from Jack’s. This time it was her turn to go to the window and stand, arms crossed in front of her, with her back facing Jack. “And apparently my father was right. You couldn’t escape the only life that you ever knew. You had to go back into undercover and field work. You couldn’t find a Monday to Friday, nine to five job and live in the world with the rest of us. You had to live in the shadows and hunt down terrorists and send coded messages to your handlers. Damn it, Jack! Why do you have to live that way? Why do you love that life so much? Why do I have to love a man who can’t make a living in corporate America and come home to his wife and kids every night?” she said not even trying to hide the hurt in her voice.

Jack came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her.

“I’m sorry,” Audrey whispered. “I didn’t mean that. Please don’t be angry with me.” She tilted her head back and rested it against Jack’s shoulder.

“Don’t be sorry. I deserved that,” he whispered in return. “If you’ll let me defend myself,” he said after holding her for a few moments longer, “I’ll explain why I said before that your father was only partially right. Let’s take a walk.”

Jack let his hand slide down Audrey’s arm. He took her hand and walked her to the sliding glass door that led to a stone walkway and steps down to the beach. They walked silently until they reached the water’s edge. The December sun was already beginning to set over the water and it gave the sky and the water a stunning reddish-orange glow. Audrey watched the sun set most days but it seemed to be more beautiful that particular day. She wondered if it was really so or if it was just that watching the sun set with Jack standing next to her made it that way.

“Jack, I’m sorry about what I said,” Audrey apologized again. “I was just blowing off steam. I’ll love you regardless of what kind of work you do or where in the world it takes you. Just say the word and I’ll be packed and on my way. If that’s what you want, then that’s what I want,” Audrey assured him. “I just want us to be together.”

Jack frowned. “Listen to yourself, Audrey. Now you’re the one who sounds like a kidnapping victim. You’ll agree to anything as long as I don’t hurt you again. I don’t want you to feel that way and I don’t ever want you to blindly follow me around the world. I don’t want to hold you captive.”

“But you do hold me captive. You’ve held my heart for almost as long as I’ve known you. I can’t stop loving you, Jack.”

“I love you, too, but if we’re to have a relationship, it’s going to be an equal partnership. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves here,” Jack added. “I’m still trying to explain why your father was wrong about me.”

Audrey tugged at Jack’s hand as she sat down on the sand. He followed suit and sat down next to her. “Explain. I’m listening.”

“I told you already, that when I left here that morning, my heart was broken. I was broken. I had nothing. I’d lost you. I’d lost my daughter. I didn’t have an identity. I didn’t have a job or friends or a home. I was nothing. I walked for hours. I was exhausted but I couldn’t stop myself. I just kept walking. I finally realized how hungry and tired I was and I knew that I had to get some food and rest. I wasn’t too far from Bill’s house, so I decided to go there and hope he would help me out. You know Bill. He was wonderful. I’m sure he’s told you what happened. I showed up at his house like a lost dog and he took me in. It worked out well. Bill went to Vermont with Karen, so I took care of the house for them. I stayed for about a month. It gave me time to decide what to do with my life. I took stock of things and they really didn’t look much better a month later than they did the moment I walked away from this house. I still had nothing. I had some friends in Israeli intelligence from years back and I decided to see if they would hire me. I saw it as a fresh start. It was a new beginning: a new job, a new country and thousands and thousands of miles between you and me. And even better, I knew that intelligence work required my undivided attention. I wouldn’t have a lot of extra time on my hands to think of you.”

“How did you get to Israel without leaving a trail? I had friends with connections back in Washington who did some checking for me. You weren’t on any flight manifests. We checked every mode of transportation from the west coast and we couldn’t find you.”

“My new employers were interested in my keeping a low profile. They arranged for travel and identification. I never traveled under my real name,” Jack told her.

“So, for the last year and a half you’ve been running around the Middle East at the behest of the Israeli government?”

“Don’t make it sound like they forced me to do it, Audrey. I took the job willingly.”

“And when do you plan to go back?” she asked hesitantly.

“I don’t,” Jack answered softly. “I’m not going back.”

“Never?”

“Never. I’m finished with field work.”

“How can you be so sure? When you moved to DC and took the job with my father, you said that you’d never go back to field work, but you did. What makes you so sure that you won’t go back?”

Jack turned his head and stared at the ocean. “Something that happened in Syria about two months ago,” he said quietly.

A moment passed before either of them spoke. “Can you tell me about it?” Audrey asked suspecting that the information may be classified.

Jack closed his eyes and gathered his thoughts. “My team was working to eradicate a terrorist cell that was making plans for a strike in Western Europe. We followed them through three countries and we were finally ready to make our move in Syria.” Jack stopped and smiled softly. “As I’m sure you can imagine, I don’t blend in real well in the Middle East. So I was playing the part of a tourist. The cell’s leader was staying in a posh hotel in Damascus. I stayed in the same hotel and was waiting in the lobby in the morning when he left. We were pretty sure that he was going to meet up with the rest of his cell. He never stayed in the same place as the other cell members, but he always met up with them around mid-morning on the day after he arrived in a new city. We also knew that their meetings had been getting shorter and shorter. They were obviously worried about being in one place for too long. Consequently, we knew that we only had a short time to set our plan into motion once the cell got together.

“Anyway, he left the hotel and I followed. He had his driver take a long circuitous route. Eventually he got out of the car at a big open air market. That wasn’t unusual either. He would use it as a chance to lose any tail and then get into another car on the other side of the marketplace. I gave his some time to get into the crowd and then I followed him in. I had my eye on him. He stopped to talk to a couple of merchants that were also on our watch list. I didn’t want to be too conspicuous in the market, so I started looking at the merchandise while I was keeping my eye on him. The vendor that I was standing in front of had beautiful hand crafted glass vases. The next thing I knew, I was holding a vase and remembering how you used to arrange flowers in your townhouse in Washington. It was like someone picked me up and transported me back five years and dropped me in Washington. All I could think of was you and how much you’d love the vase.

“Without even thinking about what I was doing, I stopped and bought the vase. All of the sudden I realized that, I’d lost sight of my mark. I had no idea where he was or where he’d gone. It screwed up the whole operation. It was two days before we sighted him again and by then, his cell had already moved on. It took us another three weeks and a trip through two more countries before we finally caught up with both the leader and the cell and were able to eradicate them.

“When the mission was over and we went back to Jerusalem. Before we even debriefed, I turned in my resignation. I realized that I couldn’t take the risk of ever putting my team in danger like that again.”

“You feel that way now,” Audrey said shaking her head. “But do you think you’ll feel the same way next month or next year or ten years from now? What makes you so sure that you’re done with undercover work?”

“My heart wasn’t in it any more. I knew that from the time I went to Israel, but I forced myself to do the work because I thought that it was all I had. The week I spent with Bill and Karen last summer made it even worse. I looked at them, at how happy they were, and I asked myself what the hell I was doing sitting in a stifling attic window in the middle of some desert city watching someone for hours at a time. I kept telling myself that the work was important, and it is, but it’s not for me anymore. I wanted that happiness that Karen and Bill found. I wanted it for myself and I wanted it for us.” Jack gently grasped Audrey’s shoulders and turned her to face him. “I’m finished with that life forever, Audrey. I swear to you that I’ll never go back. I understand now what a toll that life took on me. I don’t know how to make you believe me. All I can do is give you my word and hope that you’ll give me another chance.”

Audrey’s eyes filled with tears. “When my father told me that you came in here that morning and aimed your gun at him, I secretly wished that you’d killed him. I wished that you would have just pulled the trigger and taken me away from here. I’ve missed you so much, Jack. I’ve tried every conceivable way to find you and tell you how I felt and to tell you how my father felt. He was sorry. He truly was. He knew what he did was wrong but by the time he would admit it, it was too late to rectify the situation. He was dying and there was no way to track you down.”

“I’m sorry, Audrey. I never wanted to hurt you. I left here hoping that you wouldn’t hate me and that you’d be able to move on.”

“I never hated you and I didn’t want to move on, Jack. I’ve hoped against hope that you’d come back to me,” she sobbed.

Jack pulled her into his arms. “I’m back, baby, and I’m not leaving. I promise you that the only way you’re going to get rid of me is to throw me out! I want us to be together, Audrey. I want that more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life.”

They held each other for a long time. Audrey rested against Jack and reveled in the warmth of his arms. She pressed her face against the crook of his neck and inhaled his soft, musky scent. She felt his hand caressing her back and she shivered slightly when his hand reached the base of her neck.

“Cold?” he asked.

“A little I guess,” she lied. How could she tell him that his touch simply sent her over the edge?

“Let’s go inside then,” Jack suggested. “You still have presents to open,” he reminded her with an animated gleam in his eyes. With that he stood and helped Audrey up. Arms latched around each other’s waist, they climbed the stone stairs to the house.

Once again Jack picked up the smaller present and handed it to Audrey. “Open it,” he directed.

Audrey smiled. She looked at the poor wrapping job and knew that Jack had taken pains to wrap the presents himself. It was silly, but it endeared him to her even more. “So, this is the vase from the Syrian market place that almost cost you your job!” she laughed. “What did your team say when you told them how you lost sight of your mark?”

“I never told them the truth,” Jack admitted with a wry smile. “I said that we got separated and that I lost him in the crowd. I felt like a fool. Any rookie agent could have kept this guy in sight and with all of my experience I lost him.” He shook his head. “I probably should have quit right then and there but I couldn’t let my team down that way.”

Audrey opened the package and sorted through the packing material while she listened to Jack. She finally lifted the stunning vase from its nest. It was made of a blue glass painted with gold leaf. Its top lip and base were studded with an intricate mosaic of semi-precious stones. “Oh, Jack! This is beautiful! I love it and I love that it made you think of me, even if it did almost get you fired!”

“Open the other one,” he urged as he set the large box in her lap.

Audrey opened the second box to reveal a hand-carved wooden Nativity set. “Oh, Jack,” Audrey said again. “This was so sweet of you. I was just dreading Christmas this year and you’ve made it so wonderful. I can’t thank you enough.” She smiled at him not sure what to do next. She wanted to kiss him but was afraid. Things were going so well, she didn’t want to do anything that might upset the perfect moment.

“Merry Christmas,” Jack smiled. “Oh, I almost forgot,” he said as he reached into the pocket of his jacket and grinned impishly. “I thought we might need this. It’s a little crushed, but I think it still works,” he said as he tried to flatten out the bent leaves.

“Mistletoe!” Audrey laughed. “Jack, you’re crazy!”

“I’ve been called worse,” he laughed in return.

Audrey shook her head. “You never cease to amaze me!” she told him.

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” he asked looking puzzled.

“I guess it’s a good thing,” Audrey replied. “When I first met you in Washington, I fell in love with this side of you. You were gentle and sweet. You made me laugh and you were so kind to me. Then we came to LA and my father and I were kidnapped. All of the sudden I was seeing a different side of you. Believe me, I was grateful that you were there and that you ignored orders and saved us, but I was shocked. By the end of the day, I didn’t think that I liked that other side of you. It took me a while to figure out, but now I understand that both parts are necessary to make a whole Jack Bauer. Sometimes one part shows up more than the other, if that makes sense. Like right now, you pulled out mistletoe and all I can see is that gentle, fun side of you. Your field agent side is somewhere in hiding.”

Jack smiled an understanding smile and looked down at the mistletoe. “You’re right. In a way, I’m two people. When I was married, I definitely lived two lives. Terri knew one side of me and that was it. She occasionally caught a glimpse of my other side when there was no way to hide it. I wanted it that way. I didn’t want her to know the other side of me because I was afraid that she wouldn’t love that side of me. When I dated Kate Warner, it was just the opposite. Kate knew the field agent side of me first and I didn’t like that. I felt like I had to work extra hard for her to see the other side of me. She never felt that way, but I always felt like I had to work too hard when we were together. You were more like Terri. I tried to hide the field agent side from you. And when you saw that side, you confirmed all of my fears by telling me that you couldn’t love me.”

Audrey looked down, embarrassed by the memory. “I’m sorry, Jack,” she said sincerely. “I was wrong and I just couldn’t see it at the time.”

“Don’t apologize. I don’t blame you. I know what a shock it is to see that world close up. That’s why I wanted to shield you from that world and who I really was. What I’ve come to realize over the last few months is that I did both you and Terri a disservice. Trying to hide half of myself from you, trying to live two lives, was wrong. You were right when you said that those two halves make the whole Jack Bauer. You can’t know me without knowing both halves. And I think I’m finally comfortable with that. I think that after all of these years of trying to be one person in some situations and another person in other situations, I’m finally comfortable in my own skin.

“Audrey, I’m at a point in my life where I want ‘Agent Bauer’ to take a secondary role in my life, but that part will never totally go away. He is part of me and I can’t deny that. I just hope you can still love me knowing that.”

Tear filled Audrey’s eyes. “Of course I still love you. I’ve loved you from our first date and I’ll love you forever. I just want us to be together.”

Neither spoke for a moment, then Jack held the sprig of mistletoe above his head. “Well?”

“I suppose you expect a kiss,” Audrey said coyly.

“That’s usually the point of standing under the mistletoe. Unless this mistletoe doesn’t have any magic left in it.”

“No,” Audrey said softly. “I think I still feel some magic. Just enough to make me do this,” she whispered as she leaned into him and pressed a tender kiss to his lips.

“You’re right,” Jack whispered as they pulled back slightly. Their lips were nearly touching as he spoke. “I do still feel just a little bit of magic left in that mistletoe.” They kissed again, this time deeply, with lips parted and tongues wrestling. It was a long passionate kiss. “So, what were your plans for this evening?” Jack asked when the kiss finally broke.

“I don’t have any.”

Jack pulled away a little and looked surprised. “You don’t have any plans for Christmas Eve?”

“No, I was just going to watch It’s a Wonderful Life and then cry myself to sleep. What were your plans?”

“I was going to sit on the deck of the boat and look at all the Christmas lights at the marina and drink until I passed out,” Jack admitted.

“Since neither of us had much in the way of plans, maybe we could spend the evening together.”

“That sounds like a good idea. There’s a wonderful restaurant, Del Carmen’s, down at the marina. I’ve known the manager there for years. I bet I can get us a table. Would you like that?”

“It would be perfect. As long as I don’t have to spend tonight alone in this dreary house, I’ll be happy.”

Within minutes Jack had sweet-talked the restaurant manager, Lenny, into a table for two with a view of the marina at 8:30. Lenny didn’t have to be told that there would be a big tip in this for him. He had started working at Del Carmen’s as a bartender almost 25 years before and eventually became the manager. Jack was a college student and a regular at the bar when Lenny started. They became friends and had remained so over the years.

Jack and Audrey kissed goodbye with plans to meet at the restaurant at 8 o'clock. Audrey stood on the front porch and watched Jack drive away. She knew that she had a ridiculously large smile on her face, but she couldn’t help it. She didn’t remember when she was last this happy. If she was honest with herself, she would admit that she hadn’t been this happy since she and Jack were dating back in Washington years earlier. Quietly she said a prayer that this time it would last, that this time no one and nothing would interfere with their lives and their love.

Once Jack was out of sight, Audrey went back into the house and practically danced to her bedroom. She turned on the radio and took a second to find a station that was playing continuous Christmas music. She sang along with the music and danced her way into the shower. While she washed her hair and shaved her long legs, she mentally breezed through her closet to decide on the perfect outfit. It had to be festive but sexy. That wasn’t an easy combination to come up with. As she stepped out of the shower, she remembered a dark red cocktail dress that she had bought shortly before she went to China in hopes of rescuing Jack. She had nearly forgotten about it and it hung in the back of her closet with the tags still on. It was perfect. The dark red was just right for Christmas. It was a satiny sheath with spaghetti straps that hugged her curves. It fell to just above her knees and had a short slit in the side. She would wear the simple dress with big jewelry and complete the outfit with strappy, silver sandals and a shawl tossed over her shoulders. By the time she completed her make up and pulled her hair into an updo, it was time to drive to the marina. Audrey stood in front of her full length mirror and smiled. She looked great and she knew it. And she knew that Jack would think so, too.

Forty-five minutes later, Audrey parked her car a lot at the marina. She stepped out of the car and tugged her shawl around her shoulders to fend off the cool air. It was a beautiful evening. The sky was clear and filled with stars and a full moon so big and low in the sky that it looked like you could reach out and touch it. Between the reflected light of the full moon and all of the Christmas lights on buildings and boats, it was nearly as bright as midday. Speakers, hidden among the landscaping, filled the air with holiday music. Audrey walked along the boardwalk toward the restaurant. As she walked she passed several couples or groups of people all in festive moods and offering good wishes for the season.

As she approached the restaurant, Audrey glanced through the plate glass windows and saw Jack sitting at the bar chatting with a man she suspected was Lenny. The smile on Jack’s face told the story. He was happy. For probably the first time since he left Washington with her on that trip to LA years before, he was really happy. The glow on his face was nearly radiant and it made Audrey smile just as broadly.

Jack spotted Audrey through the window. He stood immediately and went to the entrance to open the door for her. They exchanged a quick kiss and Jack led Audrey to the bar.

“Let me guess,” Lenny said. “You must be Audrey.” He extended his hand to her. “What are you doing with a bum like Jack Bauer?” he teased. “A beautiful woman like you shouldn’t be settling for the likes of him. I would make a much better catch.”

Audrey laughed. “I know,” she said with a grin. “But I feel sorry for him and he’s kind of cute so I thought I’d keep him around.”

“It sounds like you’re talking about a stray dog!” Jack said feigning annoyance. “What would you like to drink, honey?”

“I’m making cranberry martinis,” Lenny told her. “You won’t get a better one anywhere.”

“Sounds great,” Audrey agreed as she sat on a barstool next to Jack.

It only took Lenny a few seconds to pour Audrey’s drink and set it on a napkin in front of her. He moved on to take care of other bar patrons giving Jack and Audrey a chance to talk.

“A toast,” Jack offered as he raised his glass, “to the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen on one of the happiest nights of my life: may this feeling never end.”

Audrey couldn’t speak. Her eyes welled with tears and she smiled as their glasses touched.

The rest of the evening was equally magical. They finished their drinks and moved on to the dining room. Dinner was delicious and the view was magnificent. It was nearly midnight when Jack and Audrey finally left the restaurant with plans to go back to the yacht for a nightcap. Lenny insisted that they take a quart of his special eggnog back to the yacht with them. “I put some extra brandy in this batch. It’ll put her right in the mood,” he whispered to Jack as he handed him the bottle.

They strolled slowly, hand in hand, to The Escape. Like most of the other sailboats and yachts, The Escape was decorated in lights. Decorated might have actually been an understatement. Covered in lights was more correct. Lights adorned every inch of railing. Windows and portholes all had candles in them. Unlike the other boats, The Escape had a seven-foot tall lighted Christmas tree on the deck. Audrey couldn’t help but laugh as they approached. Decorating was entirely out of character for Jack.

“What do you think?” he asked hopefully. “You didn’t have any decorations at your house, so I thought you might like it if I put up some lights and a tree.”

Audrey giggled uncontrollably. “Did you put all of this up after you left my house? Where did you find this many lights on Christmas Eve?”

Now Jack was laughing, too. “I guess I over did it, didn’t I? It’s just that I wanted our first Christmas together to be something that you’d never forget.”

“Jack, you are so sweet,” Audrey said as she kissed his cheek. “I will never forget this night, not any of it. This is the most wonderful Christmas that I’ve ever had.”

Jack and Audrey boarded the yacht. Audrey headed straight up on deck while Jack went to the bar to pour two glasses of eggnog. He carried the drinks up to the deck. Audrey had already kicked off her shoes and was stretched out on a comfortable chaise in front of the Christmas tree. Jack handed her the drink and sat down next to her.

“Have I mentioned in the last five minutes how much I love you?” she asked as Jack took off his suit jacket and draped it over her bare shoulders.

“Yes, but I don’t mind hearing it again,” he answered kissing her softly. They snuggled cozily and sipped at their drinks while staring out at the myriad of lights that shimmered on the water. “If it’s getting too cold out here, we can go below deck,” Jack suggested. “Or,” he started in a more tentative tone. “If you want to go home, I’ll walk you back to your car.”

Audrey bit her lip lightly. She was clear to her that Jack was being very careful. Despite the fact that they had been lovers in the past, he obviously wanted to take care and not push her. “I really don’t want to go home, Jack. Home isn’t a happy place for me. This might sound silly, but I’m happy right here. If you’re comfortable, I’d just like to fall asleep here with the lights all around us.”

“It’s fine with me,” Jack assured her.

They went below deck long enough to find clothes to sleep in and blankets to snuggle under. The rest of the night was spent happily sharing a chaise under the stars. Both exhausted from all of the emotions of the day and the extra brandy that Lenny put in the eggnog, Jack and Audrey fell asleep wrapped in each other’s arms.

Christmas morning was a beautiful, sunny affair. Jack and Audrey crawled sleepily from under the blankets and Jack made breakfast in the sizable galley. They took the breakfast up on deck to eat, as had many of the owners of the neighboring boats. Holiday greetings were shouted from yacht to yacht and back again and the spirit of the season was everywhere.

After going back to Audrey’s house for a change of clothes, they took the yacht out for a cruise to Catalina and spent the day on the beach there just enjoying the sunshine and each other’s company. It was there that their future started taking shape.

“So now that you’re out of the spy game, what do you plan to do with your life, Jack Bauer,” Audrey asked playfully.

“Well, Bill and I have a book that’s about three-quarters written. I’d like to be able to finish that. Bill’s publisher thinks that it’s going to be a hit. If it is, we have a couple of sequels already mapped out. Our goal is to make it a series about a counter terrorist unit. Real original, isn’t it? Other than that, I was planning to give Marilyn some help at BXJ. She’s done a great job at digging the company out from under a ton of bad publicity. She’s good at that, but she admits that she doesn’t have a really good handle at running the company. She hired a chief operating officer to help, but we both feel strongly that we want the company to stay in the family. It belongs to Kim and Josh. Kim is already working there. Josh has another year and a half of high school, then college. Marilyn and I feel that we should be able to turn the company over to them fully in ten years. Until then, I’m willing to work there at least part time.”

“So you plan to stay in LA?”

“Not necessarily. With working on the book with Bill, I need to spend some time on the east coast as well. My plan is to spend a couple of weeks to a month at a time on each coast.” Jack stopped for a moment. “Audrey, all of this is contingent upon you. I’ve thought a lot about all of this, but if you have other plans, we’ll make them work. This is a decision that we have to make together and we don’t have to make it this minute. I know this is all very sudden, Audrey. I just waltzed back into your life yesterday; I don’t expect you to be ready to make any decisions yet. Why don’t we go away for a couple of weeks? That way we can take some time to think things over.”

“That sounds nice,” Audrey agreed. “Could we take the yacht and head south? That would be a nice vacation.”

Jack was quick to shake his head. “Not a good idea. I’m willing to live on it in the marina and take it for short cruises like this one, but it’s been in dry dock for a long time and it’s an old boat. It really needs a lot of work. I wouldn’t feel safe taking it any long distance.”

“Okay, well then we have to think of something else. Did you want to stay in this country or go abroad?”

“I don’t care, but I’d like to feel a little cold weather this winter. I’ve been in the Middle East for the last 18 months. I’m tired of hot weather. I’d like to see some snow.”

“Great idea! A change of climate would be nice. Hey, wait a minute,” Audrey exclaimed. “Bill and Karen invited me to Vermont for Christmas. They said that Chloe and Morris were going to be there and so were Nadia and Mike. I was so busy trying to make sure that I was miserable, that I turned them down, but I know the invitation is still open. I talked to Karen two days ago and she was still asking me to reconsider.”

Jack nodded enthusiastically. “They invited me, too and I turned them down. We could fly to Vermont and see Bill and Karen for a few days and then go to a ski resort for a week or so.”

With their immediate future all planned out, Audrey and Jack spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the beach. The sun was getting low in the sky when they decided to head back to the yacht and return to LA. On the way, Audrey got on the computer and made airline reservations for the next day. The early flight, with a brief layover in New York City, would get them to Burlington, Vermont around 8 o'clock in the evening. They were just about to call Bill and Karen to wish them a Merry Christmas and to let them know that they were coming to Vermont, when they decided that it would be more fun to surprise them.

Once back in LA, the rest of Jack’s and Audrey’s Christmas day was consumed with packing for their trip to the east coast. And with that task finally complete by nine o'clock that evening, the two poured glasses of champagne and settled back once again on the deck of the yacht. Maybe it was the day spent in the sun or maybe it was the champagne, but both Jack and Audrey could feel a difference in the mood from the previous night when they had been content to cuddle and chat playfully while occasionally kissing softly. As their first glasses of champagne disappeared, their conversation dwindled and their kisses became more passionate.

Jack pulled back slightly after a long series of kisses. “Were you planning on spending tonight here on deck?” he asked.

Audrey smiled. She knew that Jack could have easily phrased that same question: “Should I rip your clothes off here where the people on the next boat can see us or would you rather go below deck where I can do that in private?” but he was too much of a gentleman to say that. “Let’s go below deck,” she said seductively. At first she had been nervous about allowing their relationship to take a physical turn so quickly, but after their long discussion about their future that day, her concerns lifted and she knew that she was ready to resume the relationship that had so abruptly ended nearly five years before.

By morning the couple dragged themselves out of bed in order to get to the airport in time for their flight. They were both exhausted, having slept less than an hour. At some point around three in the morning and after a particularly intense climax, Jack had suggested that they might want to get some sleep. “Why?” Audrey whispered back. “We can sleep for six hours on the plane.” With that in mind, Jack rolled her over and made love to her again.

They arrived in Vermont late in the day. The cold New England night was a huge change from the warm sun of the southern California beach the day before. Audrey picked up the rental car while Jack retrieved their luggage and soon they were on their way to the Buchanan’s house. Both found themselves surprisingly excited and trying hard to suppress some giddiness as they drove up the long driveway. As they pulled up in front of the house, they could see a big Christmas tree illuminating a picture window in the living room. Simple swags of lighted garland lit the porch which ran the length of three sides of the house. It couldn’t have been prettier if it had been painted by Currier and Ives and Audrey couldn’t believe how happy she was as they rang the doorbell.

Bill opened the door and gasped in surprise.

“Merry Christmas!” Jack and Audrey said in unison. “Are we too late for the party?” Audrey asked.

Bill was too stunned to speak but instead pulled Audrey into his arms and reached a hand out to Jack. By then Karen had followed him to the entrance hall and was equally surprised to see their guests. As expected, Chloe and Morris were there with their now nearly one year old daughter, Mary. Nadia and Mike had also made the trip from LA. Karen had told Audrey a few weeks earlier that the two were doing better and their marriage appeared stronger. They decided to spend Christmas with the Buchanans and then go to New York City for a few days before heading back to LA.

Hugs and kisses were exchanged all around and Duffer pranced back and forth seeming to feed off of the excitement of the humans around him. Jack and Audrey were just in time for dessert and after dinner drinks. Mary fell asleep in “Uncle Jack’s” arms (Chloe had offered to put her to bed, but Jack seemed content to hold her.) while her parents and everyone else caught up on what was happening in their lives.

Karen and Bill stood off to one side, arms draped around each other’s waists. They presided over the party almost like proud parents who had watched their children grow up and make lives and families for themselves. Audrey watched them and admired them. They hadn’t been fortunate enough to meet at an earlier age and have their own family, but they had created a family who loved them like parents and that was enough for both of them. She would pull Bill and Karen aside later and thank them. She knew that without their gentle encouragement that Jack would still be following some terrorist somewhere in the Middle East tonight and that she would be sitting alone in her father’s house in Malibu. She snuggled closer to Jack knowing that she owed Bill and Karen an undying debt of gratitude and she would never forget it.

Audrey’s parents were gone, as were Jack’s, but the strength and stability that Bill and Karen provided would guide them through any hard times, as well as celebrate with them in the happy times. Less than two days before she and Jack had both been alone in the world. Now they were part of a family again and both realized how good that felt. Audrey smiled at Bill and Karen. They caught her eye and both smiled back. Like she and Jack, Bill and Karen had been driven to achieve in their early careers. They had given themselves to their employers and worked countless hours. They had sacrificed much. Circumstances beyond their control brought all of that to an abrupt, but welcome, end. They had fought back against forces that tried to pull them apart, to create a happy and loving relationship that would see them through to the end of their days. Audrey smiled to herself as she realized that she was viewing Bill and Karen with the same awe that she had viewed her own parents when she was a child; her mind repeating one sentence over and over: When I grow up, I want to be just like them!

Hey! Hope that helped you to resolve season 6 like it did for me. I had a hard time trying to convey the mood and emotion that I was hoping for. I’m not sure if I was successful or not, but I was tired of revising it so I decided to post it and let you tell me what you think. I was also going to get into the future and all of the happily ever afters, but it all seemed so trite that I decided to leave it here. So, if you’ve read to this point, REVIEW!!! Let me know what you think. I’m always happy to get your opinions.