Have You Forgotten All I Know and All We Had?

Michelle groaned in frustration for the umpteenth time today. So many things were happening, and nobody seemed to be dealing with them fast enough. She cursed whatever deities she could think of for deciding to bless her with an uncooperative CTU and her ex-husband's presence on the same day as a national security crisis. Coming back to CTU Los Angeles had not been something she'd wanted to do. There were far too many memories, some good, but also plenty bad, and it didn't help that she could see the creator of some of those memories from her desk. She didn't have a problem running things, but CTU had changed a lot since she'd left. For one, the only person she recognised in the bullpen was Chloe. It made it difficult to try to coordinate everyone when she barely knew people's names, let alone what they were qualified in. Everything had been rearranged and renovated, too, so she felt disoriented trying to look for cupboards and rooms that were no longer there. She may as well be a stranger here, which didn't help her feel in control at all.

She typed something into the computer again but still received the same error message.

"I asked someone to go to Tech 3 to see what was wrong with that server over twenty minutes ago. Why hasn't anybody done it yet?"

"Wait, did you say Tech 3?" Chloe asked.

"Yeah, why?"

Chloe rolled her eyes. "That's why. Ever since Nina Myers was killed down there, people have been really weird about it. Well, the people who weren't there on the day it happened, Driscoll's new hires."

"What do you mean 'weird about it'?"

"People are saying it's haunted, that they hear things or feel strange when they're down there. It's a load of bullshit. I don't know what they're talking about."

Michelle's mouth opened with astonishment. "You're kidding me."

Chloe shook her head. "Most of the time, I'm the only one who actually goes down there, which means, one, interrupting my work and, two, my legs are killing me from the stairs since the elevator is too slow to be worth it."

She huffed. "For God's sake, a nuclear missile might get launched today, and instead of doing everything in our power to stop it, people are sitting here making up crap."

"I can go if you want-"

"It's fine, Chloe, I'll do it myself. Just keep working."

The walk would help to clear her head, at least. As she proceeded down the flight of stairs to the basement, the clicking of her heels against the linoleum was the only thing she could hear. There were a couple of security guards stationed down there. Unsurprisingly, both of them were the same guards who had been there when she still worked at CTU, so obviously, there were some sane people left. Still, it did feel a little too quiet, or at least compared to the chaos upstairs. When she entered the room, the sound of her breathing was barely louder than the droning hum of the servers. There was another guard standing there silently. He looked a little pale; she wondered how much sun he saw if he was always stuck on basement duty.

Michelle turned to face the server, looking for the buttons to reboot the connection. At this proximity, the thrum from the computer was much louder; it made it nearly impossible to hear anything else, which meant she didn't notice the security guard slowly coming behind her. It also meant that she couldn't defend herself from the reddened knife he was brandishing until it was too late. In one swift motion, he lifted the hem of her blazer and drove it into her back, right to the hilt. Michelle gasped, feeling white-hot pain radiate from the small of her back out to every part of her body. She tried to turn around and look at her attacker, but her efforts were futile. It felt like she had been drugged, all of her energy draining in an instant. She collapsed to the floor, so unable to move that she questioned whether she had been paralysed.

As darkness crept into the corners of her vision, she realised with a pathetic laugh that if nobody wanted to come down here, then nobody would find her, at least, not for a very long time.

She couldn't believe it had actually worked. Not just once, but twice.

At this moment, Nina was grateful to her past self for having the foresight to have insurance before infiltrating CTU. It had taken her a while to contact the right people and obtain the necessary resources, but it had all paid off. The knife she had enchanted to transfer her spirit between bodies had done its duty. She was lucky that nobody managed to find it since she'd hidden it in CTU nearly five years ago when she had gotten in deep with the Drazens. But when she had made her escape from CTU on the day of the Cordilla virus outbreaks, she had risked everything to see if the knife was still there. And it had been.

Of course, that had only been half the battle.

To transfer her soul, she had had to die in contact with the knife. She had hoped that tucking the knife into her waistband would be enough. More importantly, she had hoped the transfer would happen quickly enough to allow her to retrieve the knife using her new body. Thankfully, when Jack had shot her, she had woken up just seconds later in the body of one of the security guards she had killed. Nobody had found his body yet, so she had casually walked towards the site of her death and taken the knife back. People had asked questions, namely how he was still standing despite all the blood on him. It had also been a challenge trying to familiarise herself with the body of a stranger, learning important details like his name and duties on the fly, on top of dealing with the shock of seeing her own dead body in front of her. The virus outbreak had worked to her advantage. Nobody had cared enough to scrutinise her sudden behaviour change, and she had successfully learned to assimilate with the rest of CTU. Her own experience certainly helped there, too.

Admittedly, she hadn't had much of a plan for after besides trying to contact her old associates and sell information from CTU, just as she had been. But many of those associates were dead or incarcerated. Being a security guard also didn't offer her much computer access. Her clearance level was not very high, nowhere near as high as it once was. She did get a surprising amount of information just from eavesdropping or casual conversations with her colleagues — well, if gossip about her colleagues could be called that, it wasn't quite valuable government secrets. Nina had studied how to prepare the knife for transfer again, hoping that she could jump the food chain. However, it would be riskier. The longer her soul pushed Bryce's down, the weaker he became. Chances were if she left his body, he would drop dead, and she would have to deal with that quite quickly. The other risk was not getting into the correct body. The person she wanted to get into would have to be on the brink of death or severely weakened with an open wound. It had been dumb luck the first time because multiple bodies had been nearby. No, if she wanted to ensure she did this properly, she would have to be right next to them, which was tricky to achieve with someone like a director or department head. She would also need to have observed and known the person long enough to impersonate them well. Of course, she doubted anybody would suspect possession if she slipped up, but she couldn't risk a suspension or termination.

What made the situation even more depressing was that the handful of people she had wanted to interact with and missed had left CTU pretty soon after that day. Jack had gone to rehab, and Tony had gone to prison. Her best bet had been to get close to Tony's wife, Michelle, who was in charge of CTU, but with the stress of Tony's situation, she had been highly focused on her work, not one for chitchat. Being in a man's body also meant she couldn't speak to Michelle much without seeming like she was making some kind of advance. Michelle also wasn't easily fooled despite her vulnerability. She was stronger than most people probably realised, and Nina had to admit she admired her for it. This line of work was famous for being male-dominated; showing weakness as a woman was not an option if she wanted to keep her career.

Eventually, Michelle left, too, and Driscoll — who was even less sociable — replaced her, putting Nina back at square one, trying but failing to execute her plan to get into a more useful person's body. But by some miracle today, Jack had returned to CTU, which thrilled her more than she would like to admit. But he, as always, was constantly on the move. It had been too difficult to get him alone. Miracle number two was seeing Tony walk into CTU, which, again, made her realise just how deprived she was of familiarity and genuine connection. But he, too, had been difficult to corner since the higher-ups were watching him carefully given his treason charge. However, just as Nina had thought she would lose her chance, Michelle walked through the door. It seemed like everything had fallen into place. Any one of them would be a decent candidate. People generally listened to Jack, even when he wasn't officially in charge. And likewise went for Tony. If Jack trusted him, then everybody had to trust him too. But Michelle had the most authority. And she was the least likely to leave CTU for a field mission and risk getting herself killed.

Which led Nina to where she was now, on the floor of Tech 3, gasping and slowly opening her eyes.

She glanced at Bryce's bloodied body beside her and felt stickiness on her back from the stab wound. Her hand moved under her blazer, feeling the knife protruding from her lower back. Nina yanked it out with a wince before quickly confirming that the wound had already healed. She then tried to sit up but felt a wave of dizziness, planting her palms on the ground. The loss of blood aside, it would take some getting used to being in a body of a smaller stature again. At least Michelle's body was much closer to her original physique than Bryce's. Nina knew the transfer probably hadn't taken very long, but she still couldn't arouse suspicion by disappearing. Using one of the computer servers to stabilise herself, she slowly stood, securely holding the knife.

Nina grabbed Bryce by the shoulders and moved his corpse behind one of the servers. It wasn't an ideal spot, but rumour had it people didn't like coming down here, so she wasn't too worried. When she first looked into soul transfer, she learned that the process had lingering effects in the environment where it occurred. She hadn't personally noticed anything, but then again, her perspective was a little biased here. She wiped the excess blood off the knife with Bryce's shirt before tucking it into the waistband of her skirt.

There was a bathroom down here, which was also rarely used. Stepping out into the hall, she warily glanced around before walking quickly towards it. Nobody was in there, to her relief. Nina turned away from the mirror, glancing over her shoulder to look at her back. The blazer did a good job of covering the huge bloodstain on her white shirt. But it did smell a little, so she hoped Michelle had perfume or deodorant in her purse. She tucked her hair behind her ears, inspecting her appearance to ensure nothing was out of place. At least since Michelle didn't work at CTU anymore, very few people would be likely to pick up a change in her demeanour. Tony, Jack, Chloe, and Bill Buchanan, the man she'd come here with, were the only ones who knew her well. That being said, it was because they knew her that they wouldn't question her. They wouldn't doubt her judgement even if she was acting slightly off. She was in charge of CTU, for God's sake. They should respect that, at the very least.

Nina let out a breath, looking at her reflection one last time. She still wasn't sure if she could pull off running CTU during a national crisis. It had been a while, after all.

But she took comfort in the knowledge that nobody would figure out what had really happened and that even if they did, it would be too late for them to stop her.

As soon as she made it up the stairs, about half a dozen people called her name. She did her best to deflect them as they asked their questions, understandably frantic because of the crisis. She had not missed this part of running CTU. She already had a million things on her mind and now she had to add more. Nonetheless, she dealt with them all and got to the office. Upon inspecting Michelle's bag, she found a roll-on deodorant and a small perfume sample bottle that looked like it had been there for a while. She felt very exposed by the glass walls of the office. She'd never actually been up here — not post-renovation, at least. Nina moved into a corner and tried to mist the back of her shirt with the perfume. It was a light fragrance, so she hoped that with heavy-handed application, she could mask the stench of the blood.

Someone knocked at the door just as she put the perfume away. When she looked up, Tony was standing there.

"I sent those search results to your screen ten minutes ago. Chloe needs you to prioritise our leads."

"I'll get on it now."

It came out a little shorter than intended. They were a married couple. She couldn't afford to start any arguments. She had to avoid creating any unnecessary tension.

He went to leave, and she asked him to wait, a little thrown by the sound of her voice. It had been hard to adjust to hearing Bryce's voice come out of her mouth, but now she had to go through that process again and consciously not look jarred every time she spoke. Nina walked over to where he was and rested her hand on his bicep.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to snap."

But to her confusion, his expression didn't soften. She knew Tony. She knew that even when he'd been together with her — in her original body, of course — he'd always relaxed under her touch. Tony looked down at where her hand was and then up at her attempt at a smile with a confused and almost offended expression. He said nothing, pulling out of her grip and walking away.

She knew better than to ask him what was wrong. It would just make things worse. However, it also affirmed to Nina that maybe impersonating Michelle, who was more than just a colleague of some of these people, would be harder than she had thought. Nina walked back to the desk and let out a breath before sitting down and resting her hands on the desk. As soon as she did so, she noticed something she hadn't been able to see in the darkness of the basement.

Michelle wasn't wearing a wedding band. And she didn't think it was too far-fetched to assume that Tony wasn't, either.

If they had been in the field, that would have been understandable. Most field agents removed their jewellery before going out. But Michelle was acting SAC, so that didn't add up for her. And Tony, well, Tony didn't even look like he was dressed for work. Nina knew about his treason charge. He wouldn't be able to work for the government. So, he must be here on a provisional basis. Tony had come in with Jack, but Nina thought Michelle had authorised it. Now, however, she was starting to doubt not only that but everything else that she had deduced. Tony had been cold to her. And they weren't wearing matching rings.

Could it be they were no longer married?

That was going to be an issue. Acting like she was in love with Tony wasn't a challenge. It didn't have to be an act because her feelings for him from all those years ago had been real. But this was something very different to unpack. How amiable was their split? Were they separated or divorced? What had been the root cause? Had friends and family taken sides? Jack was the impartial type, but he was still human. There would be bias somewhere. There were so many new elements to think of now that she hadn't planned for. Nina brought up the government personnel directory to find Michelle's file. She had looked through it in the early days of being in Bryce's body, but not since. She had figured that, with Michelle around, she could stay up to date through conversation and that even when she left, she would likely never see her again, so it was irrelevant.

True to her intuition, Michelle was divorced. Nina looked for anything else she might need to know, but there seemed to be no other surprises. Nina then took a moment to examine the linked court records. She had to be quick; she didn't have time for this. But she spotted the phrases 'alcoholism' and 'irreconcilable differences'. Their assets had been split evenly. Their house had been sold. Michelle now rented an apartment somewhere downtown, while Tony lived in North Hollywood in a house under somebody else's name. Her mind continued to nag at her and tell her that this wasn't a priority, but she was too curious. The other occupant — and owner — of the North Hollywood home, was a bartender named Jen Slater. Somehow, that didn't seem unrelated to the alcoholism. Was he still drinking? Nina didn't spot adultery in their court file, which made sense. Tony was loyal above all else, even to people he, at a surface level, wasn't particularly nice to, which was why this divorce shocked her so much. Tony had sacrificed everything to save Michelle's life, and she had repaid him by leaving. It sounded unfair and illogical, but she also didn't know the full story, couldn't know the full story from just legal transcripts.

For now, though, Nina redirected her focus to the search results that had appeared on her computer, now dated fifteen minutes ago, hoping they could resolve this crisis fast enough so she could better research the people around her. She managed to catch up and gather what Chloe needed without taking too long. It helped that she didn't need to match a face to a name because she already knew who Chloe was; Chloe was the only constant between the old and new CTU. Still, she hadn't spoken to her very much, and when she came to her station, she seemed annoyed.

"Finally." Chloe huffed. "You know, Michelle, just because you work for Division now, it doesn't mean you're too good to help with analyst work."

"I got caught up with the server fix, sorry."

Chloe rolled her eyes and snatched the papers from her.

As she looked around, nobody seemed to have noticed their interaction. Maybe Chloe was just like this with everyone. Nina reminded herself to breathe.

"Look, I get you're probably tense because your ex-husband is here, Michelle, but we're all stressed. And I think finding a terrorist who kidnapped Secretary Heller and his daughter, then nearly made a hundred nuclear plants meltdown, and might do God knows what else is more important."

The words were blunt, but they weren't wrong. Nina took them as a reminder to prioritise. She didn't have to work everything out today. She just had to help CTU navigate this crisis, then go home and do some proper planning for re-establishing her cover. However, learning about Michelle and Tony's divorce was still shocking. Nina knew it came from caring about Tony. She couldn't deny that. But she couldn't help but feel that maybe there was more to it.

"You're right, Chloe."

As she went up the stairs to the office, she noticed Jack was watching her as he spoke to Curtis, another person she was vaguely familiar with. It was a slightly discerning look but a very familiar one. Why was he looking at her like that, though? He knew Michelle. He trusted Michelle.

But still, Jack was Jack. He'd be the first to notice something was up, and he was likely already watching her more closely than usual because he was worried about her objectivity with Tony around.

Which made Nina realise that she had to be more careful of Jack than anybody else.

Edgar frowned. "Chloe, where's the data from Dina Araz's interrogation? Michelle said she's filed it, but I can't find it anywhere."

She rolled her eyes. "It's under the Kappa database. You should know that."

"That's where I'm looking!"

"What?" Chloe then went to said database, prepared to tell Edgar to get his eyes checked, only to confirm his claim. "Yeah, you're right. It's not there." She then tried to search for the file using the established naming convention — she hoped that had been done right, at least — and found it in an unlikely spot. "It's under the old folder on the S Drive. That's weird. We haven't put interrogation data in there in years."

"Maybe Michelle is just behind on protocol since she doesn't work here anymore."

She squinted at him. "Edgar, Michelle works at Division. She's the one who sets these protocols."

Jack happened to be standing near her desk, so Chloe called out to him.

"I think something's up with Michelle."

He furrowed his brow. "What do you mean?"

"She's doing everything with old protocols. I think having Tony here is making her slip up."

"That's not like her," Jack said, glancing up at Driscoll's old office. Michelle always maintained her objectivity with Tony around. But then again, working with an ex was a little different from working with a spouse. "I'll go talk to her."

"Thanks."

Jack walked up the stairs but must have done so quietly because Michelle jumped a little when he knocked on the door.

"Are you alright?"

She looked at him funnily. "We're in the middle of a nuclear crisis, Jack. I don't really think this is the time."

He laughed through his nose. "I meant are you alright with Tony being here," he clarified. He noticed that Michelle seemed to react to the mere mention of Tony's name, so he made an effort to keep his voice level. He didn't want her to think he was reprimanding or criticising her. He was just concerned and wanted to check in. "Chloe told me you've been doing things on old protocol. You filed Dina Araz's interrogation data in the wrong spot."

Knowing Michelle, she would likely apologise and maybe take a breather if she had to, then get right back to work. But Jack was confused to watch her cheek twitch in anger. Her demeanour had been cold today, but this was downright unusual.

"I'm not going to say anything to anyone," he reassured. "I just wanted to let you know so it doesn't happen again."

"Jack, it's fine," she said shortly. "I made a mistake, and I'll fix it."

He walked closer to the desk and could tell that she was far more stressed than she was letting on. She didn't look at him, maintaining a tense silence, and Jack had to wonder how much the divorce had affected her, too. He might have known about Tony's coping mechanisms, but that didn't mean she hadn't had her own. She tended to work her way through stress. She had done so while Tony was in prison, so it made sense that she might also use that strategy today.

"Look, nobody would blame you or think any less of you if you let Bill take charge here. It's not like you knew Tony was at CTU-"

"I'm okay, Jack," Michelle insisted in a tone that Jack would later realise was a warning.

"I just don't want it to get in the way of your work or anybody else's," Jack explained. "It can be hard working with someone you used to be involved with."

She was unreadable. "I realise you're probably thinking about what you and Nina went through, but Tony and I will be fine. We just have to get through today."

Jack sighed, feeling like he could back off. Michelle clearly had everything under control and was trying to get on with her work. At the same time, he couldn't ignore that she was trying to mask her pain. Tony hadn't been particularly nice to her when she'd arrived.

"For the record, Tony wasn't drunk when I called him today."

"Yet," she muttered.

He didn't know why he was bringing up the past, knowing it would only further detract from finding Marwan. But, for some reason, he felt a need to diffuse here and create some understanding.

"He- I know he's hurt you, and you had every right to walk away from him. But he was just trying to push you away because he couldn't deal with-"

"Yeah, Jack, I know," Michelle snapped, standing from her desk and meeting his gaze. "But let me guess, you're going to tell me he wasn't the bad guy? That he was no better than you or me?" For a second, Jack swore something in her eyes had changed, just for a moment, shifting from dark brown to an icy blue. But he hadn't noticed that because he was too occupied with what she had just said. He could still hear her words. It was like they had echoed off the glass, but she hadn't spoken loudly enough for that to be possible. Still, he wasn't doubting himself. There was a small chance her choice of phrasing was a total coincidence. At the same time, there had been intent in her expression. Michelle didn't say things she didn't mean. So, how could she have possibly known that?

"What… what did you just say?"

He could see a flicker of guilt on her face. It was like she had been caught doing something she shouldn't have, furthering his suspicion.

"Jack, I don't have time for this-"

"What did you just say?" Jack repeated firmly.

His mind recalled something from Nina's file: an association she'd had with a very strange and vaguely known group. They hadn't been a gang or criminal organisation. The words 'occult' and 'witchcraft' had come up, but the description had been otherwise scarce. Jack had tried to see if it was all some kind of code but never found anything to confirm. The only time he had thought of it since was when Chloe had told him that a lot of people had left CTU in the weeks following Nina's death. Apparently, people had believed something in CTU had changed. Nobody dared to go down to Tech 3. It wasn't safe, they'd said. It felt off, they'd said. Jack assumed it had been a collective avoidance response to the tragedies that had happened that day, a desperation to distance themselves from CTU — something he empathised with all too well.

Right now, though, Jack was more than willing to consider that those people had been right to leave because there was no way, no way, that Michelle could have just said that.

"I don't understand why you're fixating on this," she dismissed. "We have work to do-"

Jack grabbed her wrist, and she looked at him with nothing but fury, again, something he'd never seen from her.

"Jack, what the hell is wrong with you?"

"How do you know about that?" he demanded. "I… I said that to…"

If he had been surprised by the sharpness of her reaction to his questions, he was astounded by the way she stopped fighting him, relaxing in his grip, and, if he wasn't mistaken, laughing, despite his confrontation. Michelle turned to him with a smirk that was very uncharacteristic of her, but undeniably characteristic of Nina. It was strange. All of her mannerisms suddenly reminded him of Nina in some way. It was as though she'd studied her intensely, but even then, that wasn't enough to describe it. She wasn't copying her; she was her in every way possible except her outward appearance.

"Alright, you got me," she conceded flatly.

Jack felt his blood run cold. "Nina…" he uttered, feeling a heaviness fall over the room, knowing it was her even though he didn't understand why. "What did you do to Michelle? How… how is this possible?"

She looked at him innocently. "I'm just borrowing her for a while, Jack. Don't worry; I can run CTU. I have done this before."  

He needed to warn Tony, and he needed to do it now. Even if Tony wanted nothing to do with Michelle, he was certain that he didn't want her to get hurt. At the same time, he couldn't leave her alone now, not for a second, when she knew every entrance and exit to CTU and had access to all kinds of resources.

Nina scoffed. "Oh, I'd like to see you try to explain this to Tony."

His eyes widened. Could she read his mind?

She snickered. "Seems like I still know you as well as always."

He'd never felt this blindsided in his life. What was he supposed to do here? How was he supposed to have any control over this?

"You should probably get back to work, Jack," she said with a sneer.

But what he did know was that he wasn't going to let Nina hurt anybody. Not again.

She had to act. Fast. Even though Jack didn't know the whole story, Tony would be willing to hear him out — Jack always had a way of convincing people, purely by intimidation. Meanwhile, Tony wouldn't be as keen to listen to her, given that she'd already weirded him out with her behaviour. She had to get him on her side. Even if Tony had pushed Michelle away, knowing him, it probably had had more to do with him than her, so she had to believe there was a chance.

Nina finished what she was doing as quickly as possible, ensuring she was accurate and up-to-date — she didn't need to give Chloe any more reasons to question her — before walking out of the office and down the stairs. Jack was already at Tony's station, but judging by the look of scepticism on Tony's face, his conversation didn't seem to be going very well.

Jack kept trying to get him to listen but Tony brushed him off and walked towards IT. Nina warily followed him, not wanting to crowd him and make him more defensive.

"Hey…" she said, trying to sound casual. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"What? Here to berate me more about my drinking?" Tony uttered without looking at her.

She sighed. That explained why he'd been particularly offended by her gesture before. It was one thing to have the looming tension of their divorce between them; it was another if he and Michelle had actually had a heated discussion about it today before she'd taken over her body. Nina looked around, finding Jack must have given up on his pursuit — or, more likely, was taking a break to reevaluate his strategy.

"No, I just wanted to see if you were okay," Nina explained calmly. "I saw you talking to Jack before, and it looked a little tense."

After a beat, he turned to face her. "Yeah, it was," Tony agreed, looking up, seemingly concerned and frustrated but not at her. He shook his head. "Something's up with Jack. It's obviously been a while since he's worked at CTU, but…" He sighed. "It must be getting to him."

"Did he say something to offend you?"

"If by offend, you mean waste my time with something ludicrous, then yes." He scoffed. "God, I don't even want to tell you. It makes no sense."

She smiled a little, taking advantage of the slightly lightened mood.

"I could use a laugh right now."

"Alright." There was a hint of a smile on his face but he clearly feared for Jack’s well-being. "He tried to tell me you were being possessed by Nina Myers."

Nina furrowed her brow, letting out a small laugh. "What?"

"I know, right? Good thing he's not in charge."

"Do you have any idea why he might think that? Did something happen when he came into your office?"

She shrugged. "Jack just asking me if I was okay because, well, you and I haven't seen each other in a while, let alone worked together," she explained. "I'll admit he was being a little pushy, and I'm sure he meant well, but I snapped. Still, I don't think possession is the right conclusion to draw from that."

"Ah." Tony looked at the ground. "Makes sense. For the record, I'm, uh, I'm sorry about before. You were trying to be nice. I shouldn't have been dismissive. You're under so much pressure as it is."

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Jack lurking around the corner. He glared at her, and all it did was encourage her to gently rest her hand on Tony's arm, knowing that he could see.

"It's fine," Nina assured. "And likewise, I shouldn't have said that about your drinking. I was out of line."

"Thanks."

Things now felt very content between them. It was nice. Tony hadn't looked at her like this in a very long time. Of course, she had to remind herself he wasn't looking at her per se. When she had followed Tony, it had just been a way to get his attention and ensure he trusted her over Jack. But Nina realised that this conversation was totally organic, not tactical. No matter how cold she was, she couldn't deny she still thought about Tony and Jack from time to time. They would never believe her now, but she had always genuinely cared for them. She hadn't wanted to break their hearts, but, ultimately it had been something she'd had to do. And she regretted it. If she could go back and tell Andre Drazen where to shove it, she would. Otherwise, she wouldn't have to possess Tony's ex-wife to have a moment alone with him.

But she had made her choice now, so she had to live with it.

Tony tilted his head with concern. "Are you okay?"

"No," Nina admitted. "God, everything has just been a lot today. It feels like every time we solve one crisis, we get ten more. And I'm not used to being here with all these new people. It's so hard to even know who to give orders to."

"Tell me about it," he acquiesced. "And I'm not even the one in charge."

Nina took a shuddering breath, realising that if Jack kept persisting — and she knew he would — she would never see either of them again. It felt almost ridiculous at a time like this, but right now, all those feelings she had tried to bury rose to the surface. She had missed him. The tears pricking the back of her eyes were real.

"Hey," he said softly, tugging her by the arm into an empty holding room. She breathed him in as he took her into his arms. "Everything's going to be fine. We can do this."

Tony was still shocked that Michelle was showing so much vulnerability around him — not that it wasn't pleasant; it meant more to him than she would ever know that he could be here for her. Still, he had to believe that she was doing this because he was one of the only people here that she was familiar with — although he wondered why she wasn't venting to Buchanan instead given that they were apparently close. Tony knew he would be deluding himself if he thought this was anything more than platonic. CTU was stressful. Moments like this kept them sane. She didn't want anyone to undermine her authority, so she was opening up to him privately to maintain her dignity.

But his rationale went out the window when she suddenly pressed her lips to his. He was fondly reminded of that day when a year's worth of romantic tension and the looming threat of a world war had peaked in this very hallway. Except this time, something felt off. While he had wondered deep down whether Michelle still had feelings for him the way he still did for her, she had dropped her stony facade so easily today. If she had really wanted to try to reconcile, she could have called him any time over the last six months. Maybe she hadn't out of shame, which he supposed he couldn't fault her for. Still, Tony was not one to ignore his gut instinct, so he gently pulled away, getting a good look at her teary eyes.

"What are you doing?" Tony asked. "You… you don't want this, Michelle."

"Please," Michelle whispered.

God, maybe she wasn't doing well. Maybe she really needed this from him. It wasn't a heat-of-the-moment thing; it was a cry for help.

Tony initiated the kiss this time, and she cupped his face. Everything seemed to move faster after that, and before he knew it, they'd cleared the few things on the table. She'd pulled him by the collar so he was hovering over her, wrapping her legs around his waist. Again, that unease returned to him. Usually, when she was stressed or upset, Michelle very much felt a need to exercise control, and he was always happy to give it to her. But right now, she was letting him take the lead in a way that felt... wrong. Was this her way of wanting to be punished for leaving him? This wasn't right. Whatever was going on here, he was not about to let it happen.

"Come on," she murmured, her skin flushed and shirt unbuttoned. But Tony froze when he looked at her face and noticed her eyes were blue and slightly illuminated. Suddenly, all of the insane things Jack had claimed were making a lot of sense. Never mind how or why, but he knew he wasn't looking at Michelle. He jerked back like he'd touched a hot stove. She sat up on her elbows, giving him a sultry look with a smirk that made her look less like Michelle than ever. It wasn't that she hadn't ever looked at him coyly, but that expression was nothing like her.

Like somebody else was controlling her.

"Oh, don't act like this bothers you, Tony." Nina sneered. "Especially if you just relax and let us do what we used to."

He held up a shaking finger and pointed at her. "Nina," he said, hardening his voice to mask his fear. "What the hell did you do to Michelle?"

There was a sudden knock on the door. "Tony?" Jack called out urgently. "Tony, she's not who she says she is!"

Tony was unable to respond to Jack, too busy making sure he didn't take his eyes off Nina as she got up and slowly walked towards him, which only caused the banging on the door to become more urgent until it was busted open. Light from the hallway shone into the room, reflecting off the flickering blue in her eyes. Nobody else seemed to be around, but they would be soon if they weren't careful. Two people who technically didn't work at CTU cornering the woman in charge was not going to be easy to explain.

At this moment, Tony truly knew that despite her appearance, the woman in front of him was not his ex-wife, because he would have stopped Jack when he grabbed her by the throat and shoved her against the wall.

"It's been a while since we've done this Jack, hasn't it?" she rasped.

Jack instructed him to frisk her, which felt violating due to his great cognisance that Nina was already using Michelle's body. Tony became worried when he noticed the back of her shirt was dampened with blood. He was also met with a familiar smell: the perfume Michelle had worn since the day they'd met. But it was pungent like she'd spilled half a bottle on herself, perhaps to mask the smell of blood. Nina tried to fight him when he found something firm tucked into her waistband, but Jack kept her in place. The object in question was an ornate blood-stained knife. Nina made another attempt to reach for it, but he snatched it away before she could.

"Be careful with that," Nina said, annoyed, and even though she sounded like Michelle, Tony could feel in every fibre of his body that he wasn't looking at her.

"Now, start talking," Jack demanded. "I've told Bill you're getting a file from Division, so we've got all the time in the world here."

She chuckled, which made Tony's gut churn. "Sure, we do, but Michelle doesn't. The longer I'm in control of her body, the more life drains from her. So tick. Tock."

Jack had cuffed Nina, but they both knew she had a certain expertise in getting out of restraints, so they didn't take their eyes off her. However, it made strategising difficult when she was within earshot. Tony was breathing heavily, his hands interlaced behind his head. Jack stared Nina down, hoping it would somehow spark a solution.

"We… we need a priest," Tony concluded, the words sounding even more ridiculous aloud.

Jack shot him a dirty look. "We don't have time for a priest. We need a solution, and we need it now. Someone will find us."

"And where do you suggest we find one, Jack?" he hissed. "If you think you're going to get anything from her, you're out of your mind."

"I know what makes Nina tick."

"Yeah, and that's the problem: in case you didn't remember, she's currently in my wife-" He grunted as he corrected himself "ex-wife's body. I'm not letting you lay a hand on her."

Jack stared at Nina's knife, which he was gripping securely. It seemed to have some kind of aura, enhancing his anxiety and sense of doom. Tony didn't like this. The mere mention of Nina's name brought out the worst in Jack, so add that to a stressful day, the resurgence of Audrey's ex-husband, not to mention the fact that Nina had created a very big and unexpected problem... Jack could easily do something he couldn't reverse. Tony usually trusted Jack to do the right thing in every case, but not when Nina was involved. Jack had killed her in cold blood. He knew that. Everyone knew that, but nobody had ever dared to challenge him.

"I can feel her fighting me, Tony," Nina taunted. "Michelle's strong, I'll give her that, but not strong enough."

"Shut up," Tony uttered with a twitch in his cheek. She was in danger. They needed to get her back in control before it was too late. Tony found his mind running wild as he tried to figure out when this happened. It wasn't just to understand how this worked but also because he had to know whether anything she had told him today had been genuine. Her kindness and vulnerability from a moment ago had been so stark compared to the quick but painful stabs of her words when she first approached him at CTU. He felt like an idiot. It all made sense now. As far as he knew, she was still just as pissed that he was here as she had been earlier. And when (not if, he hoped) they got Nina out of her body, Jack would have to explain what had happened because she would think he was crazy.

But what if Nina had taken over even earlier? Nina had been dead for a year and a half, and he had been taken to prison immediately after. Who was to say this hadn't happened while he was gone and that she had just been hiding it? No, Jack would have figured this out. He would have told him. He hadn't been in rehab long enough to give Nina time to get used to inhabiting Michelle's body. She wouldn't have slipped up today. He found himself reevaluating every conversation, every fight, every touch. His head spun the more he thought about it. Tony took a deep breath. Nina had to have done this today, which meant that she likely hadn't been in her body for very long, and Michelle wasn't in jeopardy yet. They had time.

"The knife," Jack started, his face concentrated in thought. "You were protective of it."

Nina rolled her eyes. "Because it's the only defence I have against you."

He shook his head, grabbing the knife and standing up, slowly walking towards her. Tony saw fear in her eyes and felt it build in his gut. It was almost unnatural. Even — no, especially — after she'd killed Teri, Nina had always had a good poker face. She always had something to hide and made it her mission to ensure nobody ever found out. So what was making her react visibly now? Sure, it could just be that she was scared Jack would kill her, but there was something more. Tony had seen Nina react to Jack putting a gun to her head, but she looked downright terrified now, even though it wasn't her face.

"See, I don't believe that," Jack was right in her personal space now. "This is important to you."

Nina defiantly kept her mouth shut, but she had given herself away with her body language. There was a beat before Jack suddenly pinned her against the wall and held the knife to her throat.

"Jack!" Tony shouted.

"You're afraid of this, aren't you?" he gritted through his teeth. "You don't care about what happens to Michelle, but you damn well care about what happens to you."

"You have no idea what you're doing with that."

His eyes lit up. "So it is important."

Tony grabbed him by the shoulder. "Jack, until we're sure, can we not stab Michelle?"

"You want her out of her body? Then this is the key."

Jack turned back to Nina. "Tell me right now how the hell this works. Because once you're out of Michelle's body, I swear to God, I will make sure you stay dead this time."

"You really have it in you to do that while Tony's here?" Nina retorted weakly. "You're going to kill me in front of him and hurt Michelle?"

Suddenly, the door opened, and Buchanan came in with two security guards on. Before Tony could attempt to explain, they shoved him against the wall and tazed Jack.

"What the hell is going on here?" Buchanan roared.

"You don't understand. She's not who she says she is," Tony urged, wheezing from being winded.

"Save it," he said sternly. "The two of you shouldn't even be here. I shouldn't have believed Bauer when he said she'd gone back to Division. If you've got issues with your ex-wife, you can deal with them on a day when we don't have a national crisis."

He felt a pang of jealousy when Buchanan went over to Michelle and gently placed a hand on her shoulder as she coughed. The guard had taken her handcuffs off, and she rubbed her wrists tenderly.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." She huffed. "Jack's out of his mind. I don't know what's going on with him, but he needs to go into holding until we figure it out." Nina looked up at him, and this time, the fury there looked a lot more like Michelle. "Him, too."

Buchanan looked at the guards. "You heard her: put them both in holding. Separately."

Jack was dragged out of the room, unconscious but still restrained. It seemed his reputation preceded him. Tony heard metal click and jerked as a set of cuffs went onto his wrists. He hadn't been treated like this since prison, and it certainly wasn't the reminder he needed right now. Before he knew it, he was alone in a dark holding room and feeling more powerless than ever.

Chloe looked around as she walked down the hall towards the holding rooms, ensuring Audrey Raines, Buchanan, or Michelle didn't see her. She didn't like this, but the guard had insisted. Tony and Jack were not supposed to have visitors, but Chloe understood they wouldn't be asking to talk to her for nothing. It had to be important. She also hoped it would explain why there were pending charges of assault of both of them against Michelle. While she knew their divorce hadn't exactly been amiable, she did believe, perhaps naively, that Tony wouldn't hurt Michelle. At the very least, Jack wouldn't, so the two of them attacking her made no sense.

Tony's eyes lit up when she entered the room, quickly shutting the door behind her.

"This better be quick," Chloe said. "I'm technically still on probation as it is; Michelle pulled rank to bring me back here, and I don't think Division's going to like-"

"It's important, I promise. It's about Michelle."

"Look, whatever's been going on between you two, it's none of my business-"

"Her life is in danger," he insisted. "Please, you're the only one who can help her."

She squinted. "I… I don't get it. If she's in danger, then why did you try to hurt her-"

"Chloe, do you trust me?"

She wanted to hear him out. She did. But she had more important things to do right now. Even if Michelle was in danger, Marwan could very easily blow up half of Los Angeles first.

"I-I do, but I can't do this right now-"

"Do you trust Jack?"

She bit her lip and folded her arms. "That's not fair."

"Chloe, please, hear me out."

He sounded desperate, almost the way he had when Michelle was kidnapped, and he locked her in the tech room. She had always wished she could have helped him more on that day. Maybe she could rectify that now. She sighed and walked closer to him.

"What is it?"

"This…" Tony took a breath. "This is going to sound insane, but you need to understand that I wouldn't be risking bringing you into it if it wasn't real."

"Just spit it out already."

He met her eyes, and the seriousness there did not match the insanity of what came out of his mouth. "Michelle is being possessed by Nina Myers."

"What? Are… are you drunk? Is Jack using again? Is that what this is?"

"Chloe!" he snapped. "Just listen to me, for Christ's sake. If you don't believe me, look at the security footage of Holding Room C from about twenty minutes ago. Her eyes were glowing blue. You can see it in how she acts; it's not her."  

She shook her head, knowing this was all too specific to be some elaborate lie. "That… that can't be possible."

"Yeah, well, it is," he continued to speak, not giving her the chance to question him further. "What I need you to do is to look for anything that might pinpoint when Nina took over her body."

"Wait, you think this happened today?"

He shrugged. "I-I don't know, but it would make sense, right? All of those slip-ups, the old protocols, those are things she would never do. You know that."

"I guess so, and… maybe those people were right to leave CTU."

"Leave?"

"Oh, right, you were in prison. You wouldn't have known." She cleared her throat, realising that everything seemed to click into place now, even though her scepticism believed there was some logical explanation for all of it instead of a spiritual one. "After the day of the virus outbreak, when Nina was killed, people started saying weird things. They avoided going into the basement where she died. Almost everybody requested a transfer or straight-up quit. Michelle and I were some of the only exceptions."

Tony nodded slowly, absorbing that information. "I remember Michelle saying something about people leaving. But, in all honesty, I think the virus and, well, me going to prison had much more of an impact on her than Nina dying," he said solemnly. "It probably didn't faze her."

"Which was why she didn't have a problem going down there before…" Chloe uttered, her voice heavy with realisation. "I… I think I know when this happened." She glanced down at her watch, realising that hourlies were due soon. "I have to go, but I'm going to look at the footage."

Tony looked at her gratefully as she went towards the door.

"Chloe, wait," he called. "Look up the investigation after Teri Bauer's death. Jack thinks there might be something in there. The knife that Buchanan just took from Jack is also part of this. We know that much."

"Okay, I'll look into this," she agreed, still not quite believing everything but knowing that he had to be telling the truth.

"Just be careful," Tony warned. "If she finds out we spoke, she might not want to take any chances. I know it's hard, but remember this is Nina."

While she might not have worked with or interacted with Nina Myers, she doubted that Tony wasn't exaggerating, especially because she knew Jack would be saying the same thing. He was right. She was the only one who could do this.

Chloe went back to her desk, successfully avoiding Buchanan and Michelle along the way. While a typical day at CTU always seemed to make her feel pressed for time, with this new knowledge, she felt a million times more stressed than usual.

"Hey, where'd you go?" Edgar asked.

"Just to IT," she answered quickly. "Don't you have work to do? Why are you interrogating me?"

"Jeez, Chloe, I was just asking. You know about the rumours with the basement," he defended with concern.

"Yeah, you got that right," she said under her breath.

Chloe caught up on her work as quickly as possible, delegating menial tasks to Edgar and the other analysts as she went. As she went to review the security footage and confirm her hypothesis, she set up a secure connection, redirecting it to another unused station. Chloe knew she had to be careful. For all she knew, Nina might already be monitoring her screen, watching her every move, knowing that Tony and Jack might use her as a Hail Mary. Chloe found the point of the footage where Tony and Michelle entered. While seeing them kiss was somewhat of a conflicting message, she knew undoubtedly that the blue in her eyes was not a trick of the light. Her mannerisms were strange, too. She might not have seen Michelle for a while before today, but something was noticeably different here. Chloe then went back further in time and clicked on the tech room in the basement. The view was slightly obscured by the servers, but she saw enough. Her eyes widened when she watched the security guard, Bryce, she was sure his name was, swiftly move to attack Michelle from behind. Bryce collapsed soon after. Blood pooled beneath them, their bodies motionless, but within a few minutes, Michelle, or rather Nina, woke up with a jolt and proceeded to clean up after herself.

Again, Chloe looked around to check she wasn't being watched and continued to keep up with her current work. She heard the click of heels across the bullpen and turned to look at Nina, feeling a chill down her spine. Everything seemed so obvious now. Michelle might have been a little blunt when she'd arrived at CTU today — although, Chloe had to admit she was kind of glad that Michelle fired Sarah — but right now, she was ice-cold. Chloe tried to casually look for any blood on her as she walked up the stairs but figured that her blazer was probably covering the stain. It was strange. Obviously, she hadn't expected Nina to manifest from thin air — but at this stage, that seemed equally plausible. However, it occurred to her that Nina had to have been in somebody else's body in the meantime. Had Bryce been her first victim? Had there been multiple? Was he dead now because of something Nina had done intentionally, or did possession kill the person whose body was being used as a host? It couldn't be the latter, right? There had to be something they could do.

Driven by her curiosity and awareness that Michelle was in danger, Chloe deduced not only that Nina had been inhabiting Bryce's body for the last year and a half but also that a particular knife, which had been taken by security today, was the key to everything. She had never been one to believe in ghosts or the supernatural, but unfortunately, right now, she had no choice. Chloe was cognisant that every passing second could be another opportunity for Nina to plan something. She was in the perfect position to wreak havoc.

After asking Edgar to cover for her, Chloe walked to the room used as storage for evidence.

"I need to see the knife that was confiscated from Jack Bauer earlier today."

The guard furrowed his brow at her. "May I ask why?"

"Michelle asked me to check something," she fibbed, meeting his eye. "And considering this is about the assault case against her, I think you should stop questioning her decisions."

He smiled, holding up his hands. "Go right ahead, Ms O'Brian."

Chloe looked through the cabinet, finding a zip-locked bag with a label on it. The knife smelt of metal and blood. It had stained the entirety of the blade and part of the ornate handle. It was strange, unlike anything she'd seen before. Something about it felt heavy, not in weight, but the feeling surrounding it. She felt like she couldn't stop staring at it, like it was harder to breathe, like even just touching the weapon through the plastic was affecting every fibre of her being. Chloe shook her head, dropping it back into the box. That was yet another thing to add to her list of things she couldn't explain but had no choice but to deal with.

Unfortunately, she didn't really know what to do with this. When she'd tried to look into Nina's file and her potential associates, the details about their activities had been vague, like someone had started typing the record then decided it was a waste of time. The only thing she knew was that if the knife had gotten Nina's spirit into Michelle's and Bryce's bodies, then it had to be the way they got Nina out. Still, her mind replayed Bryce collapsing like a rag doll. Could it have been an effect of time? Eighteen months wasn't exactly an insignificant period to lose control of one's body. Was there a particular way the knife had to be used? They had to be careful here. What would become of Nina's spirit? If this got messy — and it likely would — she could easily inhabit another dead body around CTU, which would place them back at square one. They had to get rid of her once and for all.

"Chloe?" a voice called, and she felt her blood run cold. "What are you doing here?"

She quickly turned around, shielding the box with her body, holding the plastic bag behind her back. "N-Nothing. I just…"

But Nina wasn't going to be fooled that easily. Chloe stood there frozen with shock as she snatched the knife from her hands.

"This is more dangerous than you think, O'Brian. You better be careful."

"You… you can't do this," she dared to say. "You can't kill Michelle."

Nina took the knife from the bag and securely tucked it in her waistband. "I'm not killing her. If she can't fight me off and her life drains from her, that's her problem. But I can kill you." Chloe watched as her eyes shifted from deep brown to icy blue and gulped. "So, maybe you should think twice before you open your mouth."

Before she could attempt to respond, she heard footsteps. "There you are, I've been looking for you. Both of you, actually," Buchanan said, walking into the room with a look of bewilderment. "Edgar's got a lead on Marwan. We need you on the floor, Chloe."

"We'll be right there," Nina replied.

"Hurry up."

"I'm… I'm not going to let you get away with this," Chloe said as Buchanan left, and Nina went to follow him. "You've hurt enough people."

Nina turned to her again with a sickeningly sweet smile. "Watch me."

Bill hadn't worked with Chloe O'Brian before today. All he had known was that since Michelle had wanted to bring her in despite being fired, she obviously must be worth the red tape of reinstating a terminated employee who technically should be stripped of her clearance. However, it did seem that Chloe wasn't the most approachable, so he had avoided questioning her work or methods or anything, really. But right now, they still weren't any closer to getting Marwan, and he was the only one who seemed to care. Michelle kept disappearing for no apparent reason, and it certainly didn't help that her ex-husband was here. He wasn't exactly pleased that Jack Bauer was here, either. Bill was aware that the man got results, but he was also aware that what he did to get them often resulted in a bureaucratic nightmare. Bill placed his hands on his hips. Enough was enough. He and Michelle were in charge of CTU. One of them had to act like it.

He glanced at Chloe's station. She looked like she was concentrating on something, but it didn't conflate with CTU's progress. Yes, Marwan was elusive, but everything coming his way from her had been a rushed job. What made this even more conflicting compared with her reputation as a highly efficient and intelligent worker was that she had distributed about half of her work to the other analysts. If anything, she was usually the type to take on the work of others because she insisted she could do it faster and better than them. He proceeded to mirror her terminal on his screen. He didn't usually like playing the authority card like this; he preferred to emphasise trust between directors and agents and promote a dynamic of equality, but today, he had run out of patience. To his confusion, the screen didn't appear to show anything suspicious. Everything looked as it should. But he could see her cursor move very slowly. There were gaps between her clicks, and he didn't think it was lag. It looked like she was switching back and forth between screens, but there was no second screen for him to mirror. He furrowed his brow, looking down at her desk and noticing the two monitors there. She had to be using the other one. But if he couldn't see it, she was hiding her activity.

Bill didn't have the time to try breaking through whatever firewall she'd put up, nor did he have the resources to spare to make somebody else do it. What he did have was a hell of an inkling that she was helping Bauer. Based on Driscoll's report from the morning and what he had seen, it was clear that Chloe had an unshakable loyalty to him. So, with him in holding, it wasn't a stretch to believe that Chloe was doing something to help him with a secret lead he had or try to justify why he'd found him strangling Michelle. Whatever she was doing, it had to stop now. He reached over to the desk phone, watching her like a hawk as she answered.

"I need you to see you upstairs," he said calmly but sternly. "Now."

Chloe looked up nervously, saying she would be there in a minute, then hung up. She typed madly to finish what she was doing and locked her screen before coming to the office.

"Yes?" she asked, trying but failing to hide the very guilty look on her face.

"What are you doing for Bauer?"

"I-I don't know what you're-"

He hardened his voice. "Save it, Chloe. Your productivity is half of what it should be. I know you're hiding on another screen, and given you're technically still on probation from this morning, I've got every reason to get security to escort you out of here."

Chloe seemed very frustrated that he'd seen through her, trying but failing to find some excuse.

"I don't want to hear it-"

"Michelle's being possessed by Nina Myers," she blurted.

Did he need to run drug tests for the entire CTU payroll?

"So Bauer's gotten into your head." He huffed. "For God's sake, you're letting this get in the way of national security-"

"I have proof! I swear, he and Tony aren't crazy. She's hurting Michelle-"

"I don't have time for this!" His hand was already reaching to call security when he saw Michelle walk in.

"What's going on?"

Bill noticed that Chloe actually jumped a little when she came into the room, taking a few steps back. Her eyes were wide, but she managed to look back at him, her expression almost begging him to believe her.

"T-Test her," Chloe said. "Ask her something. Ask her something that only Michelle could know, something from before today. It'll prove that Nina's taken over her body because she won't be able to answer."

He was almost bewildered that she was still clinging to such an absurd idea, especially in the middle of a crisis. Her quirks aside, she had done some very good work in past incidents; it was what had convinced him to let Michelle bring her back. Why was she still pushing this idea? Maybe the possession she was referring to was some kind of code. It was the only thing that could explain why she was wasting so much time. She might be loyal to Bauer, but he had to believe she wouldn't let that stand in the way of sane reasoning.

"Fine," Chloe decided. "I'll do it. Who was the doctor who ran your test on the day of the Cordilla virus outbreak?"

Michelle looked at him incredulously with a bitter laugh. "What? We're playing Trivial Pursuit instead of stopping a nuclear missile?"

"Answer the question," he found himself saying.

"Bill, you can't seriously be entertaining this!"

He looked at her sternly, and she looked between them. "Doctor Sunny Macer," she answered, crossing her arms.

"Who was the programmer that fabricated the Cyprus recording?"

She thought for a moment. "Hewitt. I don't remember his first name."

Chloe cursed under her breath. "W-When you and I were in college, what was the name of that professor everybody hated? The one we had to stay up thirty-six hours straight for so we wouldn't flunk his final?"

"Alright, now this is getting ridiculous."

"We were roommates. We took the same courses. You should know this like the back of your hand."

She asked a few more similar, oddly personal questions, each seeming to rile Michelle up more and further Chloe's desperation. Still, Bill could detect a hint of smugness beneath Michelle's facade, something he had never seen before. When he thought about Michelle, smug was never the word he would use to describe her. Every response became shorter and snappier but also yielded satisfaction. It was like she was pleased and also relieved by Chloe's exasperation. He wasn't about to believe that possession existed. He wasn't. However, he couldn't ignore what he was seeing. He had blamed her slightly odd behaviour and harshness on Tony's presence, but it didn't seem like a stress response. It seemed innate.  

"We're wasting time. I'm calling security and having her detained, away from Jack and Tony," Michelle directed, moving closer to him to grab the phone. "They can put her with Dina Araz for all I care."

Bill placed a hand on her bicep, stilling her. "How long have we been together?"

When Michelle turned to look at him, at this proximity, he noticed anger beneath her otherwise confused expression. "Excuse me?"

"How long have we been together?" he repeated.

She tried to break free from his grip. "What kind of question?-"

"Michelle," he said firmly.

As she lifted a shoulder, hesitating in what should have been a simple answer, Bill realised that something was very wrong here.

"It'll be six months soon." But even she didn't seem convinced in her answer, her gaze lowering.

He shook his head very slowly, not loosening his hold on her. "We only went out once," he corrected, letting his frustration at Chloe fuel his newfound concern for Michelle. "Because you weren't over Tony. We're not together at all."

Michelle said nothing, and he met Chloe's gaze with horrified understanding. She seemed happy he believed her but did not take her eyes off Michelle. Bill was aware that she was very close to him.

When Michelle finally spoke, she did so in an eerily calm manner. "Well played. You got me." She smiled in a way that unnerved him. "But I won't let you get in my way."

Everything happened in a blur, and it was only when he felt the searing pain of a letter opener in his sternum that he clicked she had been reaching for it with the other hand. When he caught a glimpse of her hovering over him, her expression was almost unrecognisable, her eyes an icy blue. He vaguely processed Chloe calling security and CTU Medical. She bent down, applying pressure to his wound.

"Don't let her get away," he rasped, fumbling to fish his keycard from his pocket. "Let Jack and Tony out so they can help you."

"But, sir, you're-"

"Go!" Bill urged. "Before it's too late!"

Jack hated the sense of deja vu he felt as he ran to the parking lot with Tony behind him. He pushed past every security guard who stood in his way. Whether the guards were trying to help follow Nina or not, it didn't matter; he needed to be the one to get to her. Not anybody else. Nobody knew her the way he did. When he caught sight of her, armed and trying to get to her car, Jack could tell she'd dropped whatever facade she was putting up.

"It's over, Nina," Jack said, directing his weapon at her.

Without facing him, she dropped the gun and raised her hands.

"Kick it here," Tony instructed, and Nina obliged as she turned around, frustrated. 

Her eyes flitted, searching for an exit, but the guards had formed a barricade. She was cornered.

"The knife, too." 

She shook her head. "No. It's my only protection."

"You're surrounded," Tony pointed out. "You have nowhere to go."

"Except another body." She held up the knife, delicately twisting it between her fingers like she was a master of it before putting it back. "If I reopen this wound, you have no control over whose body I go into. I can keep jumping around, so I'll stay alive, but you'll never find me."

"Jack?" Audrey called from behind him, and Jack felt his blood boil from the way Nina smiled.

Without facing her, he spoke levelly. "Audrey, go back inside." 

He heard her try to push through and ask what was going on, but the guards stopped her. Judging by the decreasing volume of her voice, they had taken his suggestion as an order.

Jack hardened his voice, walking closer to Nina. "I won't let you do this to anybody else."

Tony followed, warily asking what he was doing, aware that the security guards were watching them. Even if Buchanan hadn't given them orders, they likely knew about his history with Nina, so they probably anticipated the worst from him. Jack pushed Nina against the car, just as he had that day. He hoped he wouldn't give Michelle any bruises, but he wanted to believe she would understand why he had to be so rough once she was in control again. His hand lowered to her waist and retrieved the knife.

As he lifted his own shirt, Tony grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Wait, what are you doing?"

"The only way I'll know that she's not possessing anybody else is if she's inside me. I can fight her."

"What if you can't?" Tony asked worriedly. "If she hurts someone in your body, you'll never forgive yourself, Jack."

She rolled her eyes. "You two never could make a decision when it came to me, could you?"

Tony looked at one of the guards, "Restrain her," he ordered, clearly wanting to mull this over with him. Jack could tell by the look in his eyes that he didn't feel right making the guards detain Michelle like she was a volatile criminal. She thankfully went somewhat willingly, knowing that, even in this situation, she had the power here. They couldn't hurt her because it would mean hurting Michelle. They couldn't get her out because that gave them no reassurance that this wouldn't happen again. They could very well come full circle.

"I'll do everything I can to stay in control. It'll be fine."

"She's put you and your family through enough. Let me do this instead."

"Wait!" someone said, their voice echoing off the concrete, and Jack turned to see Chloe running towards them. "I have something."

"I'm going to get Nina into my body, it'll be fine-"

"You don't have to choose."

He furrowed his brow. "What do you mean?"

"You can split her soul."

Tony squinted at her. "Split?"

Chloe panted, passing him a printed piece of paper. "I've been trying to figure out how this works, and I finally got something from the archived documents of Nina's file. It was a little cryptic; I can see why nobody took it seriously. But it contains all the details about the knife, including how Nina infused her spirit. The knife transfers the spirit from body to body. They can be dead or just weakened. The point is…" She let out a breath. "If her spirit is trying to share with someone else's, and that person is alive, only one can be in control at a time because there are two souls where only one should be. Over time, the soul that isn't in control loses energy. But if you divide the soul among two or more people, it won't ever be able to have full control."

Jack nodded, looking back at Nina on the ground and then at Tony. "What's the catch? Surely having part of someone else's spirit in you can't be good."

Chloe made a hesitant face, trying to find her words and likely not wanting to disappoint him with her lead. "I-It depends on the kind of soul and their connection with the host body. If the two souls are like-minded, the host will feel virtually no difference. Otherwise…"

"It means I'll feed off of both of you like a parasite," Nina finished chillingly. "But who knows? Maybe we're more alike than you'd like to admit. Maybe the part of my soul will attach to yours, and over time, you'll realise how much better everything is when you give into that side of you." She sneered. "You want your ex-wife back so badly? Then let me live on in both of you."

He met Tony's eyes with hesitance, perhaps even shame, as he realised that her words had some truth. It was a solution that would save Michelle and ensure that Nina didn't gain control of anybody else. Jack thought about how this might impact his life. He thought about Audrey and Kim. He could never tell them about this. It would frighten them, and he wouldn't be able to reassure them because there was still so much uncertainty. He recognised that this had driven him and Teri apart the first time, the secrets, the belief that nobody could ever understand him. But as he looked at Nina again, he was reminded that Michelle was already suffering here. It wasn't fair that she had been dragged into this, so Jack was willing to do whatever it took to drag her out.

"You're okay with this?" 

Tony shrugged. "We have to save Michelle and stop Nina. If this ensures she can't control either of us, I'll take it."

Jack sighed. "How do we do this, Chloe?" 

"Ordinarily, you open the existing wound, then stab the new host," Chloe explained. "You just have to do it twice, so Michelle, then you, Michelle again in the same spot, then Tony, and make sure you do it quickly enough before any of the wounds seal Nina back inside."

Jack held the knife out again, feeling not only its weight but also the weight of the situation. There was no going back here. They would also have to make sure the knife was placed somewhere very securely. It probably should be studied in case something like this happened again, but if it were up to him, he would destroy it.

"See you on the other side, Jack." Nina smiled, and he was sure he'd never forget the image of her blue eyes and smile on her, well, Michelle's, face.

He lifted her shirt to find a darkened, healed wound at the base of her spine. It looked like blood had congealed there. However, it was a strange dark purple colour, almost like a bruise. Jack drove the knife in slowly, wanting to ensure this was done properly but not wanting to hurt Michelle more than necessary. Tony cringed as she winced in pain, already looking less like Nina. Jack promptly moved the knife to a spot on his side, away from any major arteries. There was an almost electrifying burning sensation as the knife made contact with his skin. His hand shook as he passed the knife to Tony, who repeated the process. His and Tony's wounds healed almost instantly, turning a similar dark colour. He wondered if it would be there temporarily or become a permanent marker of what they'd done.

Jack felt something cold and heavy inside of him. It was like ice ran in every vein of his body. He was sure Tony was feeling it, too, but he seemed far more occupied with the sudden emergence of blood from Michelle's back. The purple colouration was entirely gone. Her skin paled like she might pass out. Tony yelled at the guards to uncuff her. They were slightly confused since he had just ordered them to restrain her a moment ago. Without thinking, he lifted her into his arms, applying pressure with his hand on her lower back. Chloe had already gone to get Doctor Besson from CTU Medical.

Michelle blinked her eyes open, and, for a second, Tony looked guilty, like he'd been caught doing something he shouldn't have. She probably wasn't expecting to wake up in her ex-husband's arms. Every sign pointed to the transfer having worked. However, it didn't erase the last eighteen months of their lives. 

"Tony?" she uttered weakly.

"Everything's going to be okay," he assured. 

But as she clung to him tighter, Jack felt a surge of hope for them. If almost losing each other had torn them apart, then maybe it could bring them back together, too.

Michelle woke with a groan, feeling disoriented as she realised she had been laid on her side. She felt exhausted. There was a needle in her right hand connected to an IV. Her other arm felt numb, and she gingerly shifted so she wasn't resting her body weight on it.

"Careful," someone said quietly, but it was too late, and she winced at the searing pain that arose as her lower back made contact with the bed.

A pair of hands helped her back onto her side. Only then, when she opened her eyes properly, did she realise the person helping her was Tony. To her surprise, she wasn't particularly unpleased to see him, mainly confused. The last thing she remembered was being in the tech room. So, how did she end up here?

"What… what happened?" she asked weakly.

He sighed as though he didn't even know the answer himself. The hesitance only made her feel worse. It was like he had some horrible news that he couldn't bear to give her.

"Tony?"

"It's… it's a long story." He looked away. "I think it's best that Jack tells you. I just wanted to make sure you woke up okay."

She shook her head. "I want you to tell me. Please."

Tony bit his lip. "Alright, uh, let me start by saying that this will sound insane. But I'm not lying. And I'm sober. I just-"

"Tony," Michelle repeated sweetly but firmly, again surprised by her patience here. "The last thing I remember was trying to reboot a server, and now I've woken up in CTU Medical feeling like I've been hit by a bus… why don't we start with that?"

He scratched the side of his neck. "You were stabbed."

"That makes sense."

"By a security guard who was being possessed by Nina Myers."

She blinked a few times. "What?"

Tony huffed, standing up. "I can get Jack to explain it. It's fine. I know you're not going to believe me-"

"Stop shutting me out!" Michelle exclaimed while grabbing his arm, her anxiety at a peak. "I don't… I'm asking you to talk to me. Don't you think that means I trust you?"

He seemed genuinely shocked by her words, and it only made that guilt she'd carried since the day she'd walked out their door rise to the surface. Did he honestly think she looked down on him? That she didn't respect his opinion? God, how could they have let everything get this bad? Something had happened, and while she wasn't just about to get on board with the idea of possession, she was certainly open to hearing about it. Tony wouldn't lie to her.

She released her grip on him, and he sat back down, clasping his hands together. "Nina hid a sacrificial knife in CTU years ago as insurance in case she got found out. She figured if she was killed at CTU, she could get into somebody else's body and carry on," he started. "She got into Bryce, the security guard's, body when she died. But she couldn't do much with him. So, she tried to get close to you and gain your trust."

The name was vaguely familiar, but she clearly recalled a guard who had been particularly chatty after Tony's arrest. He was also notable for having stayed at CTU Los Angeles after his other colleagues had left, too traumatised from the virus outbreak and Nina's resurgence. There had been several instances where she had questioned his motives and interest in her, believing he was trying to seduce her while her husband was in prison. But that thought was far less concerning than the thought of Nina trying to get information out of her — not that she had given anything to Bryce.

"What- So she tried to kill me because I wouldn't give her information, and she thought I might be onto her?"

His expression softened, and there was still a solemness in his eyes. That was when Michelle realised how wrong she was. Nina wouldn't have just tried to get information out of her. For God's sake, if she had had a knife that enabled the transfer of her spirit...

"She possessed me, didn't she?"

Tony nodded. "Yes."

Michelle felt her blood run cold. "What… what the hell did she do to me? We need to find Marwan. I have to make sure she didn't use me to do anything-" Suddenly feeling a need to gain control of the situation, she tried to sit up and was met with Tony stopping her again.

"It's okay. She's out of your body now," Tony reassured.

Her mind was racing with thoughts. She hated not having all the information when facing a threat and being unprepared, so to find out that not only possession was somehow possible but that she had been possessed herself made her feel incredibly panicked. "How do you know that for sure? What if she's tricked you?"

"Because she's in my body. And Jack's," he answered. "We divided her soul when we got her out of you."

He sounded like he still hadn't processed it very well himself. He had the same tone of voice one would use when discussing a terminal illness. And well, having part of the spirit of someone who had betrayed you and hurt you inside of your body wasn't exactly far off. She was sure Jack wasn't feeling particularly happy about it, either. Michelle relaxed her shoulders, indicating to Tony that she wouldn't try to run again.

"What did she do while she was in me?" Michelle asked a little more calmly. "I had no control, right? That's why I don't remember anything from the last- how long has it been?"

"About four hours."

Her eyes widened.

"Initially, she just tried to go about her business, running CTU like you had been. She made a few slip-ups, mainly using old protocol. Chloe caught onto that right away." He smiled a little. "Then I guess the first sign to me that something was up was when you- she started talking to me like... well, like how we used to when we were married, which threw me off. When you showed up at CTU, you weren't happy to see me at all," he made a so-so motion, "although I guess you've changed your mind about that now, but at that moment, you were acting like nothing had happened between us."

Michelle pressed her lips together. He was clearly disappointed. She wanted to ask him for more details but feared it would just insult him. She couldn't do that to him.

"Then Jack told me Nina was possessing you. She must have said something that really got to him and gave him no room for doubt." He shrugged. "I thought he was crazy at first. He tried to explain, and I walked away. I was so overwhelmed with being at CTU again, with trying to interpret your behaviour, with just… everything, then all of a sudden, you were there again, crying, saying that you felt the same way. You said Jack was acting weird, that you thought he might hurt you, and even though I should have known he would never do that, I-I believed you. I wanted to protect you."

The fact that he had reverted to saying 'you' rather than 'she' wasn't lost on her. He must have truly believed there was something between them again, so he must have been receptive to it. He must have agreed — to some extent, at least — because why would he be so disheartened to know it hadn't really been her? But Michelle realised as he continued explaining what she had done, right down to being vulnerable and kissing him in a holding room, that maybe it didn't have to be a lie.

"At some point, I snapped out of it, and everything seemed to stick out. It became so obvious you weren't acting like yourself. We realised that the longer Nina was inside you, the more your life was draining. I- we had to save you before she hurt anybody else. Nobody believed us, obviously, and Buchanan threw us in holding." He laughed. "Chloe was actually the one who figured most of this out, and you know she's the last person who'd believe in any of this stuff, so go figure. She, uh, she saved your life by figuring out we could split Nina's soul. That way, she can never take control of anybody ever again."

Michelle nodded slowly, taking everything in. Still, she noticed he had started to omit details. He hadn't had an issue describing the positive things Nina had done in her body but had been more vague with the negative. Perhaps he was trying to spare her emotions, afraid to shock her more, but she needed to know the truth, even if it was hard to hear.

"Did she hurt anybody else? Besides you?"

"She, uh, stabbed Buchanan with a letter opener, but he's okay. I'm sorry, I know you two are close."

She shook her head in disbelief. However, it wasn't just the idea of hurting him; it was the last thing he had said.

"Bill and I aren't- We aren't involved. Okay, we went out on one date, but I couldn't do it. Because…" She let out a breath, almost shocked that she was about to admit this. "Because he wasn't you."

His eyes lit up when she said that, and she hoped it had overridden whatever darkness he had started feeling as soon as Nina's soul had entered his body. In a way, it was a lot like when he had come back from prison, hollow, so far removed from himself. This was a little different, of course, but, this time, she would stick by him. They were going to work through this. She would make sure he and Jack talked so they could help each other. They were going to fix things.

"Look, I obviously don't know every detail, but…" She met his eyes. "I have missed you. And I do care about you still. I don't… if you want nothing to do with me, especially after this, I don't blame you. But given that we nearly lost each other again today, I think it's a bit of a reminder of how easily everything can just disappear."

"You… you mean it?"

"Yeah," she affirmed. "I-I want us to be together again. I've hated every second we've been apart. I just- I want us to move forward. I've missed you so much."

He sniffled, nodding. "I've missed you, too."

There was a beat of silence before she slowly and carefully stood up, coming to where he was sitting (minding the length of the IV cable). She cupped his face and pressed her lips to his. Tony kissed her back tentatively at first, as though still not entirely sure he was kissing the right person. But it didn't take him long to give in and allow himself to express how much he'd missed her, too. She didn't allow herself to think about CTU or about the crisis that she knew was likely still there because right now, she had him, and he had her. He had sacrificed a part of himself to save her life again, and she was going to make sure he knew how grateful she was for that, for him.

"I love you. I… I never stopped," Tony murmured, pulling away to meet her eyes.

Michelle felt tears prick the back of her eyes. "I love you, too."

While having her soul divided permanently prevented her from taking total control of someone, it did not stop her from influencing Jack and Tony. Nina was a witness to every thought, every feeling, every experience they both had. And, with nothing better to do than observe their tumultuous lives, she would take what she could.

Jack's eighteen months in hiding were rather uneventful. But when he was thrust back to CTU, Nina realised her potential. He and Tony were gutted by the deaths of David Palmer and Michelle, but Nina believed she was the reason their grief had become anger rather than depression. It was a lot like surfing — something she fondly associated with Jack. She couldn't choose when an emotion arose, but she could help to ride it out and maintain its presence.

Tony was the first to be truly influenced by her. Henderson (God, she'd never liked him) killed him, and she knew undoubtedly that her spirit was the reason he bothered coming back to life. She took the anger, the last thing he felt before his demise, as the foundation for his new motivation: revenge. What helped to fuel that fire was David Emerson echoing her mental words. But her part in changing Tony's soul went deeper than Emerson's ever could. It did pain Nina to see Tony reduced to a shell of his former self. He had nothing to live for except his revenge. If he wasn't feeling angry, he wasn't feeling anything. But she was just glad he was alive.

At the same time, on the opposite side of the world, she had to bolster Jack's spirits during his torture by the Chinese government. They would never break him, and he was too defiant to let himself die. However, that did not stop her from helping him to keep going, tiding him over with the thought of vengeance once he got the chance. He rejected her efforts at enhancing his anger. The anger was rooted in his soul, but she was sure he would like to think it was from her. When the American government decided to bother getting him back, they put him up like a lamb for slaughter. Jack was so numbed by everything. He was ready to die. So, she begged him to reconsider and realise that he needed to stand up for himself. A desire for revenge didn't really motivate him, but a desire for justice did. He believed Al-Assad was innocent and used that to fight back. Nina helped him ride out his adrenaline, but it was quickly deflated when he killed Curtis, and she was met with the same hollowness that she felt in Tony.

Nina's next chance for control was when Jack was called in for the Senate hearing. With Jack and Tony both in DC, she had more power than ever. When they went after Dubaku together, things were mostly cohesive. However, Tony's secret goal of getting to Alan Wilson formed a blockade. Jack was sceptical of Tony. That had nothing to do with her prompting him; he just knew Tony was hiding something. But even as Jack and Tony started drifting apart in motivation, accepting that they had just changed too much to have the same kind of relationship, Nina didn't abandon them. She was there when Jack got sick. She was there when Tony killed Agent Moss. She lingered at the backs of their minds with every decision they made. It made her realise just how broken Tony was. Despite his plans mostly coming to fruition, revenge only made him feel worse. Even beating up Alan Wilson didn't light the spark in him. It didn't give him any resolution. Nina believed that even if he had not been interrupted by Jack and the FBI, he would still be disappointed. She felt old wounds re-open when he was sent to prison for good. She felt him start to fade away. He attempted to take his life more than once. But, in a moment of desperation, she managed to speak to him.

"Don't do this."

Tony looked around him. "Nina?"

"Who else would it be?"

He seemed shocked by her reaching out to him. He struggled for his words — his thoughts, rather — before finally coming up with: "Have you been able to do this the whole time?"

"No. I've been able to listen, but this is the first time I've been able to respond," she explained. "But, it was obviously enough to distract you. Don't… don't do this."

He scoffed, speaking sarcastically. "You're right, my four-by-four cell with no window is definitely my idea of paradise."

"Maybe there's still something you can do. Your life isn't over. You can try to take down criminal rings within prison."

Although she couldn't see his face, she could easily picture his squint. "Why are you, of all people, trying to tell me to be a prison snitch?"

It was a valid question. It was an uncharacteristic suggestion for her but she believed he would find fulfilment in it, based on her attunement with his soul.

"Because I know in your heart that you still want some chance at redemption."

This seemed to stop him in his train of thought, and, to her relief, he seemed to genuinely contemplate it.

"Yeah, maybe… maybe you're right."

As for Jack, Nina was sure that, as it had been with Tony, she was the one who saved Jack from the prion variant, not the stem cell treatment. She felt him heal, saw him happy with Kim's family, almost, but not quite as happy as he had been before the death of his wife. Part of Nina yearned for that time. She wanted it back. She might not have cared about killing Teri, but she had cared about hurting Jack and Tony. FBI Agent Renee Walker was on his mind, but after one too many missed phone calls, he didn't seem intent on trying to contact her again. He still thought about Audrey Raines, too, but seemingly got the closure he needed after that day at the beach house. Then, to nobody's surprise, Jack was dragged to CTU in New York. Before she knew it, she was experiencing the same kind of unrestrained rage as Tony had once had. Only, Jack was a lot harder to stop.

Although they got further apart geographically after that day in New York, Nina found a rekindling of the string between their souls. It didn't mean that they would help each other, or even speak to each other. But she knew that no matter how much they claimed they weren't alike in the slightest, Nina knew that she wasn't the only thing tying them together. They had both suffered great loss and bottled everything up inside until it could no longer be contained.

Their lives were purposeless for a while; all Jack was trying to do was stay alive and all Tony was trying to do was find a reason not to die. Eventually, Jack made it to London and risked his life to free Chloe from CIA custody. Meanwhile, Tony was broken out of jail after attempting a good deed. She felt Jack's heart leap when he reunited with Audrey, only for it to shatter again when she was killed. When Tony met Sidra, his heart lightened, too. However, deep down, she knew he would never be over Michelle, no matter how much he believed she would despise him for what he had done in her honour. But Sidra seemed to respect that, and they were happy, so what was there to worry about? True to his nature, Jack sacrificed his freedom to give Chloe another chance at hers. Tony, too, showed some altruism by helping CTU in DC. It proved that part of him was still the same, even after everything.

And, once Jack finally accepted his fate, that he would rot and die in a Russian prison because he couldn't dare risk retaliation if he ended his life by his own hand, he started spiritually fading, just like Tony had. He didn't have much of his soul left to begin with, but she wouldn't let him go down that easily. So, she mustered her strength and tried to reach out to him, too.

"Oh, how the tables have turned, Jack."

Jack's bewilderment amused her just as Tony's had, but he seemed to catch on quicker. "Great."

"Come on, you can't complain about having some company, can you?"

"Am I going insane or are you actually talking to me?"

"Your life is draining out of you, the least I can do is keep you going," Nina explained. "Even if you never say a word to the Russians, you want to keep Kim and Chloe safe by staying alive."

He sighed. "Why now?"

"Well, after everything you've been through, we're more alike than ever."

"We are not the same," he stated emphatically. "We never will be."

She laughed derisively. "You can tell yourself that all you want, but we both know that as soon as my soul entered your body, I've been a part of you one way or another. Every action you've taken, I've been there, even, no, especially, at your lowest."

He said nothing, and she could feel his growing resentment.

"I was there for you in China, just like I was there for Tony in prison."

"What do you mean was?" Jack bristled.

"He's broken out."

He huffed. "Of course he has."

"Jealous, Jack? I'm sure if I talk to him, I could get him to break you out, too."

"I made a promise," he said stiffly.

"Well, if you change your mind, you know where I am. I promise I won't say I told you so. At least, not too much."  

With Jack imprisoned for good now and content that it would keep Kim and Chloe safe, and Tony seemingly managing just fine as a mercenary with his new partner, Nina knew that the rest of her life, or lives, were unlikely to be very exciting.

But until they eventually met their demise, Nina could be satisfied knowing that no matter how much they tried, they could never escape her.