Jack had gotten far away enough from the construction site where he shot Dana but knew he couldn't relax yet. He looked around himself frantically, listening out for sirens almost to the point of paranoia. As soon as law enforcement knew, Chloe would send anyone and everyone after him. He understood this was out of concern for him, which he respected. But Jack would not let her get in the way of what had to be done. Not when he knew now that Taylor was looking the other way. He clutched the data card in his hand in a fierce way that was indicative of his seething rage. Jack had to keep reminding himself of Taylor's actions to justify what he was planning because, unfortunately, part of him was beginning to understand why Tony had done what he had done.
How the hell did he end up here? One minute, he had been happy, so happy. He and Renee had shared such a vulnerable moment. He had made promises, none of which he could keep now. He didn't even have the necessary resources to honour her. He knew nothing of her family and friends — except perhaps Agent Gold, from what he remembered. This was what he should be spending his energy on: asking Chloe to put him in touch with Renee's family. That would be the logical thing to do. If Kim was here, he was sure she would agree. But he just couldn't let it go. He couldn't look past the injustice in front of him. That was what it always came down to. That was why he could never leave things alone because the guilt of knowing he could have prevented part, if not all, of something terrible would eat him alive.
But right now, he had more heat on his back than he could deal with alone, so he needed help. Ricker had done more than enough for him; if Jack tried to return to his apartment, he risked exposing him, and he had every intention of upholding his promise to keep him underground.
There had never been very many people Jack could trust implicitly, and now most of them were dead, incarcerated, or otherwise unavailable. But Ricker could put him in touch with somebody else — certainly not an ideal choice, but the best one he could make.
He took out one of his burner phones from his bag and called Ricker's number.
"Jack, what the hell is going on? I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt before, but now police scanners are going nuts, saying you killed some woman-"
"I won't tell you because I don't want to put you at risk. There's just one more thing I need you to do."
"Jack, I held up my end of the deal," Ricker reminded him. "I told you I'm done with this. Getting some supplies was one thing. This is too much."
"I need you to put me in touch with Tony."
He scoffed. "Tony? If you're referring to Almeida, he's in solitary confinement in DC."
"Cut the crap, Ricker. I know you got him out of prison, and I know he's in New York."
There was a beat. "Well, l see you haven't lost your personal touch." Ricker huffed. "I don't think he's exactly in the mood to see you, Jack, based on what I've heard."
He rolled his eyes. "I don't care what kind of mood he's in. If you're not going to help me anymore, he's the only one who can."
"Fine," Ricker conceded. "I'll send you where he's been hiding out."
"Thanks," Jack said. "Be careful."
"You, too."
Jack didn't know how Tony would react to seeing him, given they hadn't exactly had the most amiable farewell, and whether Tony would agree to help him was another battle. Really, there was a decent chance he would try to blow his brains out as soon as he stepped through the door.
But what Jack knew for sure was that if Tony had any shred of his old self left, he was going to help him.
Jack walked into the apartment slowly. Given the lack of security measures and the fact that the place was pretty barren, Jack was sure this wasn't supposed to be a permanent dwelling for Tony. This was closer to a squatter's hideout than a fugitive's. Perhaps Tony already knew a bit of what was going on and was preparing to leave. Jack wouldn't blame him for that.
Just as he debated calling Ricker to confirm he was in the right place, the muzzle of a gun touched the back of his neck. "Don't move."
Despite the position he was in, Jack smiled humourlessly. "Nice to see you, too, Tony."
Tony didn't bother replying, using his free hand to pat him down. He managed to find every gun on his person. All those unexpected hiding spots that would fool most cops wouldn't get past Tony. Jack wouldn't have expected any less.
"I'm not here to hurt you, Tony."
"Yeah, well, forgive me if I don't believe you," Tony retorted, placing the last gun on the table near them. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just blow your brains out right now."
"I'm here because I need your help," Jack explained.
He scoffed. "Me? You hate me, remember?"
"I have no one else," Jack admitted, his voice coming out a little more solemnly.
It must have struck Tony by surprise because he lowered his gun, allowing Jack to turn around and meet his eyes. There was still some scepticism and tension in his body language; Tony wasn't about to sign up for anything. But he was obviously willing to hear him out and trusted that he wasn't here to turn him in. A part of him still wondered whether this was a good idea. He knew Tony was going to enjoy pointing out his sheer hypocrisy. He just hoped that even if he got the whole I told you so speech, he would still be willing to help afterwards.
"What happened, Jack?"
"You haven't seen the news?"
"I know Hassan was assassinated, but I don't understand what that has to do with you."
Jack tried to find his words, and Tony knew better than to expect anything less than over-the-top complicated from him, walking over to the couch, turning off the TV, and gesturing for Jack to sit on the armchair. The place was scarcely furnished. The Cubs mug on the breakfast bar was the only personal touch he could see. He tried not to let his mind wander back to the easier days — if they could be called that — when seeing that mug on Tony's desk was the only constant in CTU.
"Talk to me. All I know is that you were already supposed to be back in LA with your daughter, so something didn't go as planned."
Jack raised an eyebrow. "You've been watching me."
Tony lifted a shoulder. "From a distance. We're in the same city. I needed to make sure you didn't know where I was."
"Chloe called me into CTU," Jack started after a beat. "She said that she needed my help and that nobody was taking her seriously."
"So, you dropped everything and went. God, you never change, do you?" Although his voice sounded cold, like he was trying to imply that all of this was his own fault and that he should know by now to walk away when CTU came calling, there was pain in his expression that made Jack believe he was being reminded of the past. It was probably something to do with Michelle. Everything always came back to Michelle for Tony.
Jack sighed. "One thing led to another. I tried to leave. I did. But once I saw what was going on, I just-"
"You couldn't look away, so you wanted to help," Tony summarised, cutting him off. "I know why you stayed, Jack. And I know there's at least one APB with your face on it, so just cut to the chase."
"Renee Walker was brought in," Jack explained, trying not to be so caught up by the fact that it was just a few hours ago, yet he felt like he had been through a lifetime with her.
Tony's eyebrows rose. Jack wondered how much he knew about what Renee had done after his arrest.
"I felt like she was being taken advantage of and dragged into something dangerous. I was looking out for her," he added, trying to justify this at every point so Tony understood his request wasn't just coming from a place of emotions. He proceeded to explain everything with the Russians and Hassan, the bureaucratic bullshit he dealt with at CTU, being there for Renee when they got back to his place. However, no matter how much he tried to convey this was about injustice, Tony knew him too well to not be able to detect the wobble in his voice and the way he couldn't meet his eye. "By the time we got to the hospital, it was too late. She'd lost too much blood."
He nodded slowly in understanding. "I'm sorry."
"I need to find the shooter and stop him," Jack said, his voice hardened with purpose. Taylor's trying to shove everything under the rug for the treaty, but the Russians need to be exposed." He pulled out the data card from Dana. "There's a journalist who was seeing Hassan. She can help spread the information."
"But you don't just want the shooter arrested, do you?"
Jack supposed there really was no bullshitting Tony. "His diplomatic immunity makes him impossible to target conventionally." As he said that, he knew from Tony's body language that he had struck a nerve.
He folded his arms. "Oh, so when you do something like this, you're a hero. When I do it, I'm a terrorist."
"I'm doing this directly," Jack defended. "I'm not letting innocent people get in the way."
"What the hell are you thinking, Jack? This is crazy, even for you. These are not local mercenaries. We are talking about international government officials. I tried my hardest to get the Chinese off your back, but this time, you're on your own."
"I need to do this, Tony," he insisted.
"You knew her for two days, Jack," Tony reminded him. "I'm sorry about her. I am. But get a grip here."
He really should take this as a sign to quit. He should turn himself into CTU, pass the information to Meredith Reed, and then get back on a plane to LA. If Tony, who had thrown his life, and many others, away for revenge, was telling him to leave it, then he really should listen. Still, a bigger part of him was hurting and didn't want to listen to do this rationally.
"But Renee was innocent in this."
"Yeah, so was my wife, but I didn't go around trying to piss off the Russians."
"No, you were just a domestic terrorist," Jack commented drily.
Tony didn't seem particularly offended by that, but he was clearly not impressed by the motivation of his request.
"You know, if you're trying to sweeten the deal for me, you're really not making a convincing case."
"I know I don't have much to offer you," Jack acknowledged. "In fact, I'm actually threatening your privacy just by being here. I'm not going to get into how you fucked me over, and I fucked you over because neither of us is innocent in this. But what I can say is that you would ultimately be doing a good thing," he tried to explain, wanting to cling to the logic of what the old Tony would do, his whole reason for being here in the first place. "You would be exposing the kind of corruption that I know you still care about. It's what drove you to kill Alan Wilson. I have to believe it wasn't just about Michelle; it was about justice. So help me get justice for Renee."
Tony looked at him for a long time and then at the data card on the table. Finally, he huffed. "Alright, I'll help you."
That took... much less begging than anticipated. Tony might have changed, but if anything, he was more stubborn than he used to be — if that was even possible. Jack didn't buy it. Tony might still have a few of his core ideals left in him, but Jack wasn't about to ignore what happened a year and a half ago.
"Why?"
"What do you mean why? I'm agreeing to help you, what's your-"
"You want something, or you just realised you can get something out of it. Which is it?"
Tony let out a breath. "As hard as it might be to believe, I don't want you getting yourself killed," he explained, and Jack heard a hint of softness in his voice that he knew was genuine. "But Walker nearly finished off Wilson after I never got the chance. I owe her for that."
And there it was.
Jack gave him a dirty look. "Don't reduce her to that. She wasn't doing that for you."
Tony rolled his eyes. "Are you going to be like this the whole time?"
"We'll see."
As Tony loaded his gun and started to walk, he let out a sigh. It was ironic, really. Just as he had criticised Jack for not saying no to CTU after everything it had taken from him, here he was, having not said no to Jack's request for help after everything they had been through. It was almost amusing how easily he had still taken orders from Jack. It was as if his brain had gone back twenty years ago without thinking. Tony struggled to convince himself that he had only agreed because the conspiracy was too much for one person to stop. Deep down, he was glad to be able to redeem himself in Jack's eyes. The tension from the last time they saw each other was still palpable. Between him denying visitors during his brief imprisonment and Jack recovering from the bioweapon, they hadn't exactly had the chance to talk it over. Tony was sure that if it weren't for those factors, Jack would have dragged his ass to a blacksite and done whatever it took to get the truth out of him. Sure, he had confessed Alan Wilson's role in Michelle's death, which was really the crux of it all. But there hadn't been time to talk about those almost six years before that. His time with Emerson, why he hadn't been able to rescue him from China, why he had been so secretive about his ultimate plans to the point of paranoia, and everything in between.
Tony rounded the corner now, smirking as he identified the hostile with the sniper. He seemed deep in concentration and wore an earpiece, so he likely wouldn't notice him in time. Jack was meeting up with Meredith Reed, and he was tasked with trying to look for the Russian hostiles that would have followed her, namely, the sniper that took Renee Walker's life: Pavel Tokarev, a Russian intelligence agent here on a diplomatic visa. Tony remembered when he identified the first few people involved with the bomb in Michelle's car. He could still recall how his fists had clenched when David brought up the profiles on the screen. But the deaths of those people hadn't satisfied him because the more he had learned about the Sentox conspiracy, the more names he had had to add to his list of enemies, and the less successful he had felt in his quest for vengeance. It was a slippery slope, and Jack was right at the top of it. Part of Tony was angry, knowing he had had his chance already. Granted, not for Renee, but he had been able to kill Nina, he had been able to ensure Cheng was behind bars — although Audrey was at least still alive, even if she wouldn't be the same — and he had been able to kill many people in between. The give and take with Jack was neverending. Tony wished he would give it up for his own good, really. At the same time, Tony wasn't going to deny Jack what little satisfaction he could get in his life, no matter how much he wanted to shake him by the shoulders, tell him to turn back before it was too late and go be with his family for whatever remaining years he had.
A promise was a promise.
With footsteps as silent as he could make them, he closed the gap between them, pressing the muzzle of his pistol to the hostile's neck. "Put it down," he ordered.
Tokarev obliged, his eyes still fixed on Reed through the slats.
"Everything's all clear, Jack," Tony informed him through his comm.
"Copy that."
Tony got the man to his feet and grabbed his case. He patted him down with his free hand, then walked him towards the agreed extraction point. Tokarev said nothing and didn't put up a fight. On one hand, that was a relief, knowing he wasn't trying to actively resist him. On the other, the quiet ones were always the ones to keep a close eye on, the ones who always had some trick up their sleeve. He heard gunfire in his comm. Obviously, Jack wasn't extracting Reed quite as smoothly as intended, but no news was good news, he supposed.
When they came into the light, Tony observed Tokarev's pale, scrawny appearance. Whatever Jack was about to do to him… he wasn't going to last very long. There was a satisfaction that was lost when fighting someone who was so much weaker than you. Alan Wilson hadn't exactly been Mike Tyson. He hadn't cowered in fear, either, just sat there and laughed in disbelief like the psychopath he was. Perhaps part of the issue was displacement. Although Alan Wilson was at the top of the Sentox conspiracy food chain — at least, he was pretty sure — he still wasn't quite the man to blame for Michelle's death. No, Tony knew that his seething hatred was from anger at God. He wanted to know what the hell not he but she had done to deserve to die. He might be a lapsed Catholic, but his guilt still lingered in his darkest thoughts. Ultimately, he blamed himself. He must have done something. He must have made a mistake, be it selling his soul when he enlisted or one of the many other questionable choices he had made over the years. But he supposed wondering was all he would have. It wasn't like he would ever get his chance to fistfight God, given where he was likely headed once he died.
Within a few minutes, Jack appeared, dragging a very frightened Reed with him. They proceeded through the maintenance exit, out onto the road, and into the construction site. Tony still didn't take his eyes off Tokarev. He might have a lot of mixed feelings about Jack and his plans, but that didn't mean he wouldn't do his job.
Tony ordered Tokarev to thoroughly empty his pockets while Jack got Reed to her seat. He also reminded Jack that they were on a timeframe, so if he wanted justice to be served, he wouldn't lose himself in his anger. Reed had many questions and seemed not just sceptical of the situation but Jack. When Jack confirmed that he had known about the snipers, she seemed horrified that he had willingly risked her life. But judging by how Jack's eyes kept flitting to Tokarev, Tony knew he had a one-track mind at the moment. He attempted to assure Reed by reminding her of the very real and important evidence he wanted her to see. However, Reed's fear notwithstanding, she was not naive and knew that Jack was not just here to sit down and show her some photos.
"Don't do this. You don't want to do this," Reed begged.
Jack looked at him. "Take her to the storeroom."
"No, I'm not going anywhere." She broke from his grip just as he grabbed her. "Please, you cannot do this."
Jack's voice softened. "The evidence I gave you doesn't tell me how Walsh was involved." He motioned with his head. "He will."
Tony grabbed her again, a little rougher this time, and managed to get her out of the room, her pleas echoing off the concrete. He admittedly felt quite sorry for her. He always felt this way when he saw civilians react to the bloodshed and deeply rotten things people like him and Jack had long since become desensitised to. He gave her the tablet from his bag, encouraging her to play the SIM card while he gave more context from his research with Jack. Her face fell with every additional detail in the video. So many people from so many governments were complicit in this conspiracy. Although she was a journalist, and he had some resentment towards them based on the leeches that had practically stalked Michelle during his treason trial, she seemed to be the kind that deeply valued honesty, transparency, and her duty to inform the public, which explained why Jack was placing so much faith in her.
However, her focus was soon lost when a guttural scream came from the other room, followed by Jack's less coherent yelling. It went on and on, becoming increasingly loud and making Tony remember just how good Jack was at inflicting pain without killing someone.
Reed bravely rose from her seat, coming to where he stood sentry by the exit. "Please, you've got to stop him. Please."
Tony grabbed her by the bicep. "He needs answers, and he's going to get them," he said simply.
"I can use this." She held up the tablet. "There's enough. I don't need any more." Her voice raced with every word. "Tell him I don't need any more."
"You're not going anywhere," Tony informed her softly but sternly.
Her shoulders slumped in resignation, and she returned to her seat. Tokarev's howls did not get any quieter, but it did sound like he was choking on his own blood, so perhaps this would be over soon. Tony figured a change of topic might make this slightly more bearable for her.
"It's funny: when I tried to do this to the man who killed my wife, Jack stopped me." Tony rolled up his sleeve to reveal the scar on his hand from where Jack had shot him.
"Then… then why are you letting him do this?" she asked.
He smirked. "To be honest, I'm not sure. We've both suffered a lot and dealt with our losses in different ways. I never thought we'd see eye-to-eye again, but when he came to me today, ready to throw his life away... somehow I couldn't refuse.."
Jack then yelled out his name, and an eerie silence followed. Tokarev must be dead.
Tony told Reed to stay put, and she seemed to not want to argue with him. When he opened the door, he coughed at the stench of blood, gas and burning flesh. Jack was breathing heavily. In his blood-stained fingertips was a SIM card.
"Grab his cell phone," Jack asked coldly, wiping the card with a towel.
He looked at the table of Tokarev's things before identifying the phone, coming back over, taking the card from Jack and inserting it.
"There has to be evidence on here. He tried to swallow it," Jack explained.
Tony navigated to the recent calls list. None of the phone numbers were attributed to contacts, unsurprisingly. He dialled the first number, biting the inside of his lip with every subsequent ring. But just as he went to hang up and go for the next number, his blood ran cold as the voicemail message played: "You've reached the number of President Charles Logan. We can't take your call. Leave your number. We'll get back to you as soon as we can."
"Did I just hear what I think I did? Logan's involved in this?" Tony gritted through his teeth.
It was incredible how Tony had gone from apathy and helping him begrudgingly to suddenly caring so much now that Charles Logan was apparently involved. But Jack couldn't blame him because he shared his anger. Charles Logan had gotten away with so much. Despite how many lives had been lost to prove his guilt, the government had deemed it better to privately remove him from office lest the American public trust the government even less than they already did. Michelle had been collateral in that, and now Renee was collateral in this. Logan was an idiot if he tried to get away with it again, but, well… given how he was caught the first time, Jack supposed it actually wouldn't be that surprising.
"We need to confirm before we do anything," Jack reminded him.
Tony huffed, furiously working at the phone's buttons, presumably to try to run a trace. It didn't take long before he shook his head. "Let's go back to my place. I need decryption software."
They got Reed out with them as well. Jack reiterated how imperative it was that she not use traditional means of communication. She was understandably nervous, but there was a level of determination in her eyes that made Jack believe he had been right to trust her and give her a chance. He could see why Hassan had, too.
Tony led them back to his place via a route that minimised the risk of being identified on street camera. When they got back, Tony confirmed it was indeed Logan's personal cell that Tokarev had called. He also managed to get the location of his motorcade.
"So, what now?" Tony asked.
"We go to Logan and find out what's going on."
"What- You want to just walk right up to his limo and ask him to roll down the window?"
Jack rolled his eyes. "I called you for a reason, didn't I? I'll need full body armour and a shotgun."
Tony laughed. "What am I? Your personal ammunition supplier?"
"Right now, yes, you are."
He motioned with his head towards a large cupboard. "Knock yourself out. It'll probably help to carry light once I have to pack all my shit and run because of what you're about to do."
As Jack stood up, he realised that something about how he spoke didn't sit right with him. He was upset, sure, probably just the stress of having to relocate — which, really, for someone in his position, would have been inevitable — but Jack believed there was more to it.
"You don't have to come with me. You can get a head start, if that's what you want-"
"I'll manage just fine on the run, Jack. You don't have to worry about me like I don't have to worry about you. Knowing you, you'll get away with it. You always do."
He stilled, turning to look at him. "Get away with it? The fuck do you mean get away with it?"
Tony scoffed. "Taylor will probably give you another medal, and you'll be on a first-class flight back to LA before you know it."
"Yeah, after the Senate nearly fried my ass and used me as a scapegoat for CTU," he pointed out. "You think I'm getting some kind of special treatment? They left me to rot in a fucking prison, then they were willing to let me die. At least they protected you in prison."
"That doesn't mean it was paradise for me, Jack! You know I didn't do well in there," Tony defended. "You were alone. I had people try to kill me more than once, and instead of getting me out, you looked down on me like I fucking deserved it-"
"I did the best I could," Jack insisted, cutting him off.
"Bullshit."
Although Jack and Michelle were both being pushed away towards the end, Jack recognised that he still could have been a better friend. There was truth to Tony's words. Jack might have been dealing with a lot at the time, too, but it was no excuse.
"Why didn't you get me out of China?" Jack found himself saying, too far gone in the memories of their past to stop himself. "You were with Emerson. You had the means. You had the resources. Any day, any fucking time, you could have saved me-"
"It wasn't that simple," Tony defended, his voice softer. Jack would later reflect and realise that there was sadness in his eyes, too. But he was too angry right now, from so many things, big and small, past and present. It didn't help that his choice of words reminded him too much of what Heller said to him that day at the beach house. "I wanted to, okay? I just- I couldn't. I couldn't, and I'm sorry."
"Not sorry enough."
He half-expected Tony to tell him to get the fuck out, and he would be justified, but instead, he just sighed. "At least let me make it up to you by helping you now."
"Don't act like going after Logan is something you're doing for me. You're doing it for you again."
"It's both, alright? Let's just get going."
The car ride was silent, the tension even more tangible than before. They parked about a block away and reviewed their plan one last time. Admittedly, their history still meant communication was easier than it could be, always one step ahead of each other. However, Jack emphasised this had to be as clean as possible. They could shoot Logan's guards and aides, but they would avoid injuring any innocents in the nearby cars.
"Christ, Jack, you act like I'm some kind of psychopath. I didn't want to hurt innocent people then, and I don't want to hurt them now. I don't get this. One second, you're saying you trust me, that you have nobody else and that you need me. The next, you're acting like you're morally superior."
"Well, how was I supposed to know? That's my problem, Tony: I don't even know you anymore after what you did."
He groaned. "You're the one who said you didn't want to bring up the past and that we're on a timeframe, so why do you keep doing this?"
Jack really didn't know why he kept bringing it up. Maybe it was the awareness that he might not see Tony again for a very long time, if ever, and likely under similar circumstances to now, so he just had to get everything off his chest that he hadn't been able to for eighteen months since his imprisonment. But it wasn't just Tony he was thinking about, although he was certainly a prominent figure. Everyone and everything from his past kept coming to mind in flashes. He felt like he couldn't control them. He knew he was being erratic — more than usual in these situations — but he didn't stop. He wasn't sure if it was because he wouldn't or he couldn't. He just knew he was angry. And tired. So, God-damned tired.
"Forget it. I'm just-" Jack huffed. There were more important things to focus on right now. If they didn't get Logan here, then they would have to attack his motorcade much more publicly, and that was much riskier.
"Let's just go get our ex-president," Tony decided, ending the conflict for now.
The attack itself was thankfully smooth. Tony covered one exit while he covered the others. The gunfire distracted the other cars and made them stop, sandwiching the motorcade between two arrays of standstill traffic. People started to flee. There was immediate retaliation from Logan's guards. However, they were ill-prepared for someone attacking them with the weapons he and Tony had. Jack observed the cars as he made his way down, checking that there were no witnesses. It helped that they had sprung for the face shields, too. He forgot how heavy full-body armour could be. Twenty years ago, he could have worn all this with a rucksack and not had an issue. But now, with so many years out of action and his body weakened from the bioweapon, it was hard not to feel every bit of his years.
He jumped onto the hood of the car. The glass was tinted and most certainly bulletproof, but Jack could just see the driver and Logan inside. In the corner of his eye, Tony came towards the back, giving him a nod. Jack reloaded his shotgun and kept it still as he fired once, twice, three times, creating a dent the size of a golf ball in the windshield. It wouldn't shatter, but he could see he had made a small chip, and that would be enough. Jack retrieved the tear gas canister from his pocket, opening the seal. He punched through the small hole to shove the canister inside. Within seconds, the driver and Logan, who had a look of sheer horror in his eyes, were coughing and trying to hold their shirts over their noses.
Logan lunged to open the door, giving Tony the perfect opportunity to grab him by the arm and press the rifle into his back. Jack came to meet the driver, who was doing similarly from the other door, knocking him out with the butt of his gun. Logan's eyes kept flitting between the two of them. Logan probably expected his presence but wouldn't know of Tony's.
They moved through the tunnels' connecting doors to the boiler room. Unlike the last time he and Logan were in this situation, when he had been smug and firm in his belief that he was untouchable, now he was whimpering and begging for his life before either of them could speak.
"Through here," Jack directed before shoving him against the fence.
He and Tony both took their masks off.
"Look at me," Jack demanded, but Logan recoiled, making the fence rattle. "I said, look at me! You're gonna tell me everything I want to know."
Logan's head happened to be turned to the side where Tony was. His eyes widened. "T-Tony Almeida. I... I knew Bauer was here, but... but you?"
"Oh, so you remember me," Tony observed, and Logan nodded.
"Don't look at him. Look at me," Jack ordered.
Logan obliged immediately. "Jack, you're making a mistake."
"Don't you even try to pretend you're not a part of this," he spat. "l found the man who killed Renee Walker, the Russian operative Pavel Tokarev. l got his cell phone. The last call he got was from you."
"l know how it looks. You've got to let me explain."
He was so tired of excuses, especially from people like him. He wanted the truth, and he wanted it now.
"Explain what? Τhat you sent him to kill me?" Jack seized his neck. "You sent him to kill me, right?"
"Yes, damn it, yes!"
"Why did you take out a hit on Renee Walker?"
"I had nothing to do with that!" Logan insisted. "l was brought in after that happened."
"Who brought you in?"
Logan proceeded to explain how Taylor had requested his help to negotiate with the Russians regarding the treaty. Logan's tactic had been blackmailing the Russian delegation with evidence of their connection to Hassan's assassination. The evidence apparently did not exist, to Jack's immense frustration. It had been a bluff but a successful one. Logan reiterated that he had nothing to do with the conspiracy itself, including any terrorist attack or Renee's murder. His voice raced with every word.
"l-l- l'm not the bad guy here," Logan pleaded.
Tony had been surprisingly stoic through most of this, but when Logan said that, Jack immediately heard scuffling. As he turned, Tony shoved him aside, taking his place and pushing Logan against the wall.
"Not the bad guy? Not the bad guy after you murdered my wife, you son of a bitch?!"
Logan shook his head. "I-It wasn't personal! Cummings took it out of my hand. I never thought it would get that bad. I'm sorry about your wife, I am-"
"Shut your fucking mouth!" Tony roared. "You're not sorry. But you will be when I give you what you deserve-"
"Hey!" Jack grunted, yanking Tony back by the collar and meeting his eye. "We don't have time. You had your chance with Wilson. Don't do this again."
"Oh, so you get to eviscerate the guy who murdered your one-night stand, but I have to play nice with the man who murdered my wife and got away with it. You are so full of shit if you think any of what you're doing is for the greater good. You're doing this for you, too-"
"Shut up!" Jack yelled, shoving him back. "Go keep watch. We don't have time."
Tony shot him a dirty look, squaring his jaw, but ultimately did as he had said. Any arguments or disagreements when they were in the field always came back to control and who was in charge. It wasn't that they didn't trust each other to be in charge; they did, implicitly. But when the stakes were high, and they always were, everything felt too important, and every detail mattered, so mistakes couldn't be afforded. The worst period was when he returned from being undercover with the Salazars for the first time. He had been demoted by Division for 'not bringing back enough evidence' when the truth was a lot of it was kept secret to make the sting operation work later on. He had been navigating his barely repaired relationship with Kim. He had been dealing with trying but failing to quit his heroin habit. But while his life had fallen apart, things had become better than ever for Tony, from his marriage to his and Michelle's promotions. Although Jack had trusted Tony's judgement and believed him to be a good candidate for running CTU, from his own security and arrogance, he had, on more than one occasion, tried to overrule Tony's authority by claiming that his extra years of experience over Tony still made him the better leader. It had been childish, and he could see that plainly now. Jack knew those same feelings and thoughts were coming back at this moment. He was still trying to convince himself that this was all for the greater good when he knew his heart was aching for Renee. It wasn't that he had been in love with her; he couldn't have known that so soon. But he was mourning what he could have had because the connection he had felt with her had had so much promise. Just seeing her walk into CTU had brought him happiness he didn't think he had left in him, but, like most other good things in his life, it had been snatched away just as cruelly.
That reminder brought him back to the task at hand. He pointed his gun under Logan's chin. "You say you're not the bad guy, but you know who is. You know the person inside the Russian government who's giving the orders. I want that name."
"Jack- Jack!-"
"Give me the name!"
Logan continued to protest, but flicking the safety off his gun and threatening to shoot him did the trick, leading him to confess that the head of the Russian delegation, Mikhail Novakovich, was the one he wanted, the one ostensibly behind everything. Still, he blubbered about how he wasn't involved, how he wasn't the one to be punished, and how he was just one part of a big machine. Jack became aware of a noise behind him and realised Tony was saying his name. He cupped his hand over Logan's mouth to shut him up, turning to see Tony had come back over.
He looked worried. "We've got company. We have to move."
Jack dragged Logan along and forced him to his knees.
"No. No, please. Don't kill me, Jack," he whimpered.
He leaned down. "If I was going to kill you, you'd already be dead," he reminded him before locking his arms around him in a chokehold. Logan didn't last long before he fell to the floor, and Jack ran to meet Tony.
"Where to, now?" Tony asked.
Jack met his eyes. "The Russian embassy."
Tony panted, leaning his head against the wall. Jack was just as out of breath. If the mood between them wasn't so grim, Tony was sure one of them would have commented about them getting too old for this shit. Frankly, it was a miracle they had stormed Novakovich's room without being seriously injured, but here they were.
Beneath Jack's weariness was a wild look in his eyes that was more than a little concerning. The last time Tony saw it was when Jack killed the Drazens, one of the few moments when he had looked at Jack and been afraid of him. Right now was a close second. It wasn't that Tony thought Jack was so deranged he might hurt him. No, it was more that Jack's thirst for revenge was clearly insatiable, and Tony feared he might not be able to draw the line. He had just slaughtered a dozen Russian diplomats. He could have set up a sniper across the street or put a bomb in their hotel room. He could have even gone into that room with his gun ready, Rambo-style. But Jack had decided to risk everything to stab most, if not all, of the diplomats. It was deeply personal. Renee was just the surface. This was the result of years of pent-up resentment. Tony was more than familiar with that. Anyone who framed what he did to get to Wilson as purely revenge for Michelle's death was wrong. It had been about the government betraying him after he had laid his life down to serve it.
Tony didn't know what to say, but before he could try, Jack pressed his hand to his earpiece. Part of the goal of ambushing Logan had been to bug him, neither of them believing a word that came out of his mouth. Tony silently watched Jack's cheek start twitching, his eyes still focused in front of him as he tried to discern every word. Eventually, with a hand trembling in a way that Tony knew was rage, not fatigue, he took the earpiece out. Jack didn't speak.
"I can't believe he fell for it twice," Tony commented, trying to lighten the mood, increasingly worried by Jack's unreadable expression. "You think the guy would have asked someone to pat him down after you were through with him."
There was a pause before Jack flatly uttered a single word. "Suvarov."
Tony furrowed his brow. "President Suvarov?"
Jack gave a small nod. "He's in on it."
"As in?-"
"Logan was talking to him, assuring him that I believed it only stopped with Novakovich."
The president of a powerful country being part of a conspiracy was certainly not unfamiliar. But this was enough to start a world war. Forget taking troops out of a base or an airstrike; if this got any uglier, it would make every domestic terrorism threat they had ever faced look like a smoke bomb in a high school bathroom. He now felt the need to pause and rethink. At the same time, once Jack's mind was set, it was nearly impossible to change. If Tony was in the same position, if the president of some foreign country had had a hand in Michelle's death, the bastard would be dead ten times over. An immature part of Tony wanted to point out Jack's hypocrisy. He might have destabilised the government, but at least he hadn't started any wars. But this was not the time to argue, and, really, that would only make Jack more convinced to do his own thing to spite him.
Jack got up, leaning on the wall for support. "We're going to the Hart building."
Tony followed him aimlessly, trying to ask about his intentions, but Jack wouldn't respond. Given that the Hart building had a direct line of sight into the building where most of the diplomats and politicians were… it was pretty easy to conclude what Jack intended to do. He had long since lost plausible deniability. This wasn't a sting operation where someone at CTU secretly knew what was going on, and everything would work out judicially. No, Jack was the sole operator here, and Tony was just along for the ride. What put paid to any lingering naivety that things might not be as they seem was Jack setting up a camera and recording a message for Kim, as well as the president. Jack would only do this if he believed he was never going to see Kim again.
As the weight of the situation set in, Tony suddenly noticed footsteps from outside the room. It only sounded like one person, so he trusted it wasn't CTU who would have busted the doors down. Tony warily stepped out, keeping his motions quiet, his gun drawn. There was a woman, also armed, descending the stairs above. She happened to turn towards where he was hiding, and he realised it was Chloe. She obviously wasn't helping Jack — otherwise, Tony wouldn't be here. But maybe she wasn't just here to uphold the law. Maybe she was here to save Jack from something he couldn't undo. So, he started tracing her steps, staying in the shadows, and making his move when she paused to look around on the landing of the floor they were on. He came up behind her, locking his arms around her neck. She struggled, managing to elbow him in his already bruised ribs, but he maintained his grip, and she fell limp in his arms. He lifted her up and carried her back to where Jack had set up the sniper. His eyes widened.
"She came alone," Tony explained.
Jack nodded. "Take her phone and comm unit out of her pockets, then cuff her."
He obliged, watching as Jack proceeded to call Logan and tell him he had a rifle pointed at his head. In fifteen minutes, Suvarov would be up there with Logan, and with a single gunshot — two, if he considered that Jack would most certainly take out Logan as well — all hell would break loose.
Chloe didn't take too long to wake up, meeting his eyes with a stunned expression. "Tony? Aren't you supposed to be in prison?"
"He's helping me," Jack answered without turning to look at her.
"Jack, you can't… you can't take out Suvarov. You know this is too far."
He spoke eerily calmly, like his soul was already beginning to detach from his body. "I can't let him go on."
"I know, but you have evidence. We can do this the right way-"
"Taylor won't confront Suvarov," Jack explained simply. "She's too scared of the fallout. She won't do it. There won't be a tribunal or an investigation. If we let him get away with this, he'll keep doing it, and I can't let that happen."
Tony felt somewhat conflicted. He needed to stay out of this. Hell, he needed to start packing up his shit and running because even if Jack didn't take out Suvarov, his arrest would lead to the question of who was helping him.
Chloe looked at him again. "Michelle…" The mere mention of her name made him tense, and Chloe must have seen that because she looked a little afraid. "Michelle would want you to interfere here."
"This isn't about me, Chloe."
"It would be a good thing for you to do," she begged. "You've done enough damage, but maybe you can stop some more from happening. She would want you to protect Jack. That's what we did when we got him into hiding. We made a promise to keep him safe, so if you really want to redeem yourself in Michelle's eyes, you'll do this. Please."
When he had worked closely with Bill and Chloe to get the CIP device, he had come to trust her more — although not enough to tell her about Alan Wilson. Chloe was not a naive rule-follower who believed that the legal way was the only way to do things. At the same time, she wasn't totally chaotic and disrespectful of the law. Chloe was reasonable. She saw both sides of the argument. Maybe it wasn't too late. Maybe if Taylor knew more of this, they could stop it from getting out of hand. A bitter part of him — one that sounded a lot like David — told him he was pathetic and naive for thinking that Taylor wouldn't try to cover this up to protect her treaty and reputation. However, a larger part of him, one he had believed was long gone, wanted to do this right and stop Jack from throwing away what little life he had left. He realised he had missed that part so much. It was what Michelle had always brought out in him. She had made him a better man. Her absence had left a gaping hole where his morality used to be, but maybe it wasn't all gone. Maybe this would affirm to him that some of it was still left.
"Jack, maybe she's right," Tony conceded.
Jack turned and pointed at him. "You do not get to tell me where to draw the line."
"If you do this, the country will descend into chaos," he said gravely. "Kim's already going to be in danger because of you. You don't need to make it even harder for her."
"I can give her instructions to leave-"
"Not everyone is like you. Not everyone can just pack up and leave at the drop of a hat!" Chloe yelled, cutting him off. "Her father's going to go down as the cause of World War Three. Do you really want that for her? For her kids, for your grandkids?"
Mentioning Kim was always a touchy subject for Jack. It was like he believed even her presence in a conversation put her at risk. But she ultimately drove Jack's decisions. If Kim were here, she might be able to talk him down, but they couldn't call her without risking her safety, too. They had to use Kim however they could to get Jack to listen.
"You know if you do this, you're an idiot," Tony said, more anger in his voice than expected. "You tempted fate enough by staying in New York. Now, you've fucked things up, but you still have a small chance at getting out of this without too many consequences. For all these years, you've done everything you could to protect Kim. You've talked about how you would give anything to have been there for her when she needed you. Well, guess what. The only person to blame here is yourself. You keep making this choice. You bring this upon yourself, then blame the world and act like you're a fucking hero and that nobody can do what you can. You make excuses because deep down, you're terrified of facing your grief and everything you've bottled up for the last twenty years." He huffed. "I have nothing, alright? You have your daughter and her family. Why can't you just be satisfied? Everything was taken from me, everything. Yes, you've lost a lot, too. But you have something to hold onto. I don't, and I would sell my soul to the devil himself if I could have that back. So why the hell are you throwing it away?"
"Taylor's not going to let me get away with what I did to Novakovich," Jack pointed out. However, the fact that he wasn't yelling back at him and arguing had to mean he was getting through to him on some level.
"No, she probably won't. You will still need to go into hiding," Tony acknowledged. "But you have a better chance of eventually being with your family now than if you kill Suvarov. I know you think you've crossed the line so much that nothing matters anymore. That was how I felt eighteen months ago, but I was wrong. You can still stop yourself. I know deep down you still care about protecting innocent people, even though it's so hard to do that when every time you try, you're fucked over. At the very least, recognise that if you kill Suvarov, you know damn well that the Russians will come after Kim and her family. You don't want that. You want her to be safe. You want her to be kept away from you and your actions, but you can't have that if you start a world war."
Tony had continued to watch Jack the whole time, looking for a tic, a sign that he was breaking, and he believed it was working. Jack was gripping the gun tighter, trying to mask his pain with anger, but he had nothing to say because he knew he was right. Tony went to lay on the guilt even more, but to his surprise, and he was sure Chloe's, too, he put the gun down. Better still, he moved away from the window.
"Tony, uncuff her," Jack ordered. When Tony did, Chloe gingerly rubbed her wrists.
"Could you have done them any tighter?"
He laughed through his nose. "Sorry."
Jack then came over and passed her the memory card. "Promise me, you will protect this with your life and get this to the right people."
She nodded. "I will, Jack." She then secured it in the back of her phone, somewhere that wouldn't be discovered even if they did a strip search.
Chloe looked between them. "You guys won't have long to get out. The Feds are probably already looking for me."
"I have an exit," Jack assured.
"If you want, I can help-"
"Don't," Jack was quick to say. "We'll be fine. Don't incriminate yourself any further."
Chloe bit her lip, clutching her phone tightly. "Alright… good luck to both of you."
He and Jack thanked her, letting her leave before they ended up underground.
"Where are you going to go?" Jack asked.
That was a fair question. Initially, he had thought as far away as possible from Jack was a pretty good idea, but now… well, they were in a similar boat. Sure, he might only be on a US Wanted List, versus Jack had top ranking on the international shitlist of not one, but now two countries. But really, the consequences were the same for both of them. If they weren't riddled with bullets, they would be captured and tortured at a black-site. Really, they would try to ensure it was over quickly, and they could help each other do that. It would certainly be tense at first, but hey, all that time together had to mean they would eventually reach common ground.
"Well, initially, I was just going to get away from you, but now…" He shrugged. "Feel like some company?"
Jack seemed a little surprised but not offended. He couldn't exactly raise a point about Tony drawing risk to them. They were both in it now.
"What the hell. Let's go."
Tony wasn't sure why, but hearing that Jack was ready to charge into the Russian embassy, guns blazing, made him pause. It was the deja vu; it had to be. But last time, they hadn't had a choice. Marwan had had a nuclear weapon, and Palmer had lamented that this was the only way. They had known it would be risky, but everything that resulted from that raid caused turmoil in their lives. Tony didn't exactly have much left to live for at this point. Really, there wasn't much they could take from him besides his freedom. But Jack still had Kim left, and the fact that he wasn't stopping to think about her made Tony desperate to make him reconsider. He supposed the root of this was his loyalty. He had promised to look after Kim when Jack faked his death. Tony might have gone back on that promise the last time they saw each other — although Jack would never know how much it had sickened him to do that and how he had made it very clear to the mercenaries holding her that they had to keep her alive — but right now he had every intent on reminding Jack of it.
"Jack… wait a second," he called.
They needed to get to the car quickly, but Jack had stormed off in a way that made Tony believe he was going to the embassy with or without him. Jack's lack of response further validated this.
Finally, he caught up, panting in a way that was almost embarrassing and indicative that both of them were getting too old for this shit. He grabbed Jack's shoulder. "We need to think this through."
"All the people we need to get to are in that building. If you want to go, go, but don't get in my-"
"Just think about what you're doing for a second."
Jack looked at him incredulously, almost about to laugh that he, of all people, was asking him to be rational.
"The second you set foot in that embassy, it's over. This is what happened with the Chinese all over again, except this time, Palmer isn't here to protect you. Whatever credibility you have disappears because they won't see you as a vigilante or someone trying to expose the truth: they'll see you as a terrorist."
"They already-"
"No, they don't," Tony insisted. "Right now, you're still barely the man who gets results, Guantanamo's golden boy, whatever the fuck they've called you for all these years. Someone at CTU will listen to you. Someone will help you expose the truth. Even if they throw you in prison, we both know it's not going to be for long. If the Russians start wanting you, the government won't hesitate to give you up, and that's if they don't try to put you down like a dog again."
Jack was breathing heavily, probably some combination of anger and indignance towards him as well as physical exertion. "We can't afford to stay here."
Tony had to agree. But he insisted on taking the wheel and going back to his place first. Jack protested, but Tony reminded him they needed to reload and assess the floorplans if they wanted to do this properly — even though he hoped they wouldn't get anywhere near that building. Tony was pretty sure Jack didn't give a damn about any of that and would be perfectly happy getting himself killed, but Jack went along anyway. What Jack didn't see, however, was the text Tony covertly sent with coordinates and instructions to come alone.
"Tony, we're wasting time," Jack said once they returned, voice even less patient than usual. "Most of these diplomats are going to head to the conference soon. If I'm going to get to them, I'm going to get to them now."
"And then what, Jack? Have you thought any of this through?"
"The consequences don't matter. I need to get justice-"
"If this was really about justice, you would be turning yourself in and leveraging the evidence against Taylor."
He huffed. "I already tried that. She won't listen to me."
"But she's your only ticket out of this, you do realise that? You have the power to demolish her integrity, and you can use that."
Jack looked at him with disgust. "I'm not going to blackmail the president, Tony."
"She would happily yield to your demands. You could ask her to clear your record, guarantee protection for you and Kim, and let you go back to LA like you wanted to yesterday," Tony explained, watching how Jack's expression faltered at the mention of Kim. "But that isn't what you want, is it?"
He squared his jaw. "I can't let this go on, and I'm not going to go back to LA knowing what I know now and not doing something about it."
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw movement. However, Tony was careful not to let his eyes track as she carefully inched closer.
"You know what your problem is, Jack? You don't know when to quit. You don't know when to stop and say that's enough, it's not my job anymore. You say that you won't be able to live with yourself if you don't put a stop to it, but at this rate, I don't think anything is ever going to satisfy you. People like this, corrupt people, in and out of the government, all over the world, will always exist. If you really want to be the person who tries to stop it all, then give your daughter the decency of telling her that. I've seen the way her face lights up every time you promise it's the last time, and it's heartbreaking. She might not be a little girl anymore, but she's still your little girl, and it shatters her every time you disappoint her."
That seemed to cross a line for Jack, who drew his gun and pointed it right at his chest. Even though there was a slight tremor in his hand, and Tony could notice all the other flickers in his movement from age and the effects of the bioweapon, he wouldn't underestimate his aim. This wasn't the first time they had ended up in this situation, but this was probably only the second or third time that he had decent reason to believe Jack would shoot him for real this time.
"I am not listening to some lecture about doing the right thing from you," he gritted through his teeth.
"Isn't that why you called me? If all you needed was guns and backup, you could have forced Ricker's arm and done that yourself. You didn't need me for any of that today. I think you called me because deep down, you wanted me to stop you."
"Bullshit."
But Tony wasn't buying it. On the outside, it looked like Jack was his usual, purposeful, tenacious self, but Tony could tell he was on the verge of breaking down. If he let him leave, he would take out decades of fury, grief, and pain on those diplomats, but if he made him stay… he might just admit defeat.
"Tony, I know you're trying to look out for me, but I can't do this. I need to get to the embassy before it's too-"
"Jack, don't move," Chloe warned.
Jack's eyes widened as Chloe's gun made contact with his back. She had been wise to announce herself before doing that; otherwise, Jack might have defended himself without thinking.
"What are you doing here, Chloe?"
"Tony made me come here. I wasn't followed. If anyone at CTU is trying to look for me, I've redirected my cell's GPS somewhere else. So no excuses." She took a breath. "I… I don't know what you're planning to do, but given that CTU has already found Tokarev's body, and it looked like something out of a horror movie, I don't think it's good."
"Chloe, get out of here. This isn't about you."
"I'm sorry for making you come to CTU, but I didn't ask for any of this to happen, and I'm sure Renee didn't, either."
Jack's cheek twitched.
"I know sometimes things get insane, and you feel like it's out of your hands, or you've been forced into something, but in all the years I've known you, if you want something, you usually get it, so why haven't you ever tried leaving, Jack? Maybe it's because of what Tony said. Maybe you just don't want to because you don't know how to do anything else."
"Enough, both of you. I'm doing this because we can't trust the government to do the right thing anymore. Taylor sees the corruption and is choosing to ignore it for her own political gain."
"They're just going to call you insane, make an example out of you against CTU again, and then nothing will change, Jack," Chloe added.
"What you're planning to do isn't going to expose injustice," Tony pointed out. "And contrary to your belief, Jack, I did want to expose injustice when I did what I did, and part of why I regret going too far is that I didn't get to achieve that. When I killed Larry and tried to detonate the canister on the subway, I lost all my credibility, and nobody was ever going to do anything about my information. If I had stopped, they might have given me a chance."
Jack scoffed. "Please, the person you were at that time would not have accepted a deal from the FBI."
"Maybe it would have taken time, but I know that actually being able to help the government open their eyes would have made me feel a hell of a lot better than now."
"You are so full of shit. You're just saying that because-"
"Because it's what she would have wanted, alright?" Tony said, cutting him off, his voice breaking. It was still a struggle for him to say Michelle's name, and trying to think about her in this situation only made things more difficult. "She would have wanted me to turn myself in, and if she was here, she would want you to stop, too."
His expression softened, but only slightly. Jack would have listened to Michelle, but if Michelle had been here, Tony doubted they would be in this situation in the first place.
Before he could speak, Jack held up his hand, eyes widening slightly. One hand came to his ear. Tony furrowed his brow until he remembered that Jack had tried to bug Logan, figuring every word that came out of his mouth was a lie. Jack tensed, looking even angrier than before but not surprised. Tony could make a decently educated guess as to what he was hearing. Logan had his connections far and wide; they knew that damn well. He never would have gotten this far without them.
Finally, Jack spoke, "Suvarov. He's involved. Logan was talking to him, assuring him that I believed it only stopped with Novakovich."
"You recorded that, right?" Chloe asked warily. "Because if you did, I can do something with that, Jack. We used this evidence last time."
"But we don't have anybody we can trust at CTU," he reminded her. "Everyone we used to rely on is dead."
"I-I know. Logan already has that douchebag, Pillar trying to run things, but if I hold onto it, I can get it to the right people. Kanin would help. Morris probably has some contacts, too. I promise I will make sure something comes of this, but you have to turn yourself in." Her eyes were wet with tears. "Please."
"Jack, she's right," Tony agreed. "This is your last chance. And I know you think that nothing will come out of this. I won't give you false hope. Maybe nothing will. But after everything you've been through, you can't look me in the eye and tell me that you'd be resentful for the rest of your life if you threw in the towel now instead of trying to get yourself killed when that won't even guarantee the result you want."
Tony carefully watched his face, still slightly afraid that Jack would shoot him and run. But the anger that had been there before was fading. His breathing was starting to even out, and the hunch in his shoulders was gone. If he really wanted to leave, he would have by now. Chloe having a gun to his back wouldn't have stopped him. Hell, even if Chloe had shot him, Jack would have limped away out of spite.
"Alright…" he finally said quietly, lowering the gun. "Get me a secure line with Taylor."
"Thank you, Jack," Chloe said gratefully.
Jack didn't exactly look happy about what he had just agreed to, but he seemed to at least know it was for his own good, and that was enough. Tony could only hope he would realise he had done the right thing when he reunited with Kim. When he watched Jack with his granddaughter from afar just a couple of days ago, it had made his chest clutch to see him with such a genuine smile.
Chloe got him on the phone with Taylor while Tony slowly started to pack his things. From what he could hear, Jack was not quite comfortable with making demands like this. It was sad knowing that it wasn't about being assertive — Jack was more than capable of that — but it was about advocating for his own wants. But Taylor must have ultimately agreed without much argument because he soon hung up with a sigh.
"What'd she say?" Tony asked.
"She says there's a chopper waiting for me a few hours out of the city to take me back to LA. I… I'll get my stuff from my apartment, then I'll go."
Tony nodded. "I'll drive you."
Chloe thanked them both again, and Jack gave her the data with Logan's confession. She emphasised that she would do the right thing with it at the right time but that she wouldn't tell him because it wasn't his responsibility. Not anymore. Jack thanked Chloe for looking out for him for all these years. Sure, they would likely bump into each other again at some point, but probably not soon.
Unlike the earlier drives when he and Jack had been ready to rip each other's throats out, after picking up Jack's things, leaving the city was peaceful both because they were avoiding the raucous NYC traffic and because there was a lot less to say. Somehow, they had reached a point of contentment. They might not have gone over everything they wanted to today, but what they had discussed had been enough. Jack had softened his perception of him, and Tony had felt a sense of redemption he never thought he wanted.
Tony parked at a safe distance, not wanting to be visible to any Secret Service agents who might know him. Apparently, Taylor wanted to keep this under the table, so cameras shouldn't have caught them, either. Jack took a long breath. It was like he was still questioning if this was the right call, but just seeing the chopper seemed to cement things for him.
"Thanks…" Jack said quietly, staring out at the window. "For talking me down. A part of me hates you, but another part of me knows that it was right. So, thanks."
The corners of his lips upturned. "You're welcome. You're doing the right thing."
"I know," he said very quietly.
"Go be with your family," Tony encouraged, more warmth in his voice than intended.
Jack took a long breath. "Yeah."
As Jack finally got out of the car, Tony didn't expect to feel such great relief, knowing that he had saved Jack from something he couldn't come back from. He realised he probably could have forced Jack's hand and taken this opportunity to cut a deal for him, too, but the fact was, he didn't care. He had actually done this out of the good of his heart, care for Jack and his family, and the promise he had made all those years ago. It was sad how unfamiliar this feeling was. He had tried to tell himself — convince himself of David's words, really — that he had spent too much of his life being pushed around and bending over backwards for people who wouldn't do the same in return. He still held that belief, but it wasn't such a core ideal anymore. No, it was like deep beneath the surface, some of the old him was revealing itself, proving to him, Jack, and Chloe that it had never fully disappeared.
And maybe, just maybe, if Michelle could see him, she would believe that, too.