For Good

Tony lay in the amber dimness of the apartment, mindlessly watching whatever was on TV. It was late. Sidra had insisted on checking for any new assignments one last time before going to bed. He couldn’t blame her, there hadn’t been any for several weeks. Not that they weren’t financially stable, she was just going a little stir-crazy.

The people who’d helped Tony escape prison had worked under him during his time with David Emerson. But Tony had decided he didn’t want that life anymore, so he’d left them to start anew. At some point, he’d found himself in the Middle East, which was how he’d met Sidra. She was a sniper in the Israeli military, but after a botched mission, the Israeli government had had no choice but to abandon her to cover their tracks. In the process, she’d lost her family and partner. Tony had been the one to save her life and get her to the US. They’d accompanied each other ever since. After helping Rebecca Ingram in Washington, they figured they’d lay low for a while, so Los Angeles had been home for them over the past few months.

She walked into the bedroom, the blue light from the laptop casting a stark glow on her otherwise caramel complexion. “We have a new job request. Five million dollars to break a man out of Vladimir Central Prison.” There was a slight glint in her eyes, and not just because of the screen, they didn’t normally get payouts this big.

Tony however, was immediately suspicious. The work they normally did was relatively petty. Tap a phone here, transport some contraband there. He generally tried to only accept jobs that worked for the greater good. Doing a bit of dirty work to help expose some kind of corruption or conspiracy, that gave him satisfaction. But a prison break? And a big one, at that? He would have to know exactly who the prisoner was before he’d even consider doing such a thing. Especially if he’d have to travel halfway across the world to do so. And who would be requesting a foreign prison break from the States? Surely there were better mercenaries in Russia to pull off something like this?

Then something clicked. There was one American that came to mind for Tony when he thought of Russia. It hadn’t made national headlines, but word had gotten around nonetheless. Someone wanted to break Jack Bauer out of prison. And considering that there weren’t many living associates of Jack Bauer left, he had a pretty strong inkling about who it was. He laughed through his nose. “Let me guess. Anonymous request. You couldn’t even trace the IP back?”

Sidra raised her eyebrows. “Yeah. How’d you know?”

“There’s only one person in the US who’d be that interested in breaking someone out of a Russian prison. And she definitely doesn’t have five million dollars. But set up the meeting anyway, she can come here tomorrow night, as long as she’s not followed.” 

She gave him a quizzed look. “Here? We always meet clients out. You know, since you're supposed to be in prison and I'm supposed to be dead? What if this is a set-up?”

“Trust me. I know exactly who’s behind this, alright?”

Sidra pursed her lips. “Fine. But whoever it is better still pay up.”

It was seven o’clock the following night. Tony heard a quiet knock at the door. Opening the door, he was unsurprised to find Chloe O’Brian on the other side. They hadn’t seen each other in nearly a decade. After returning from London, she’d slowly gotten her life back together. Her hair had grown out again, returning to its natural auburn. She had regained the weight she’d lost from being on the run for so many years. She’d traded the combat boots and anorak for a more office-friendly blazer and jean combo. The winged eyeliner had been toned down just a bit. Tony noticed the more pronounced crow’s feet and smile lines, but otherwise she’d aged well. He on the other hand, not so much. Between the slight gut, the much more salt than pepper scruff, and the hardened wrinkles of someone who’d been put through the wringer a few too many times, it was hard to tell they were only a few years apart in age.

“Hey, Chloe, uh, how are you?” Tony broke the silence, as she stood there, awkwardly looking at the ground. It was hard to know what to say. Hell, the most he knew about her actions over the past years was that she’d joined Open-Cell at some point. And all she knew initially was that he went to prison, and subsequently broke out. But it seems she’d figured out what his new line of work was.

“Fine, I guess. You?”

“Yeah…yeah, I’m okay.” They walked through his hallway towards the small common area. “Chloe, this is, uh, Sidra.” He gestured to the stern woman sitting at the kitchen table. Chloe nodded in acknowledgement.

Sidra stood up, and rolled her eyes. She had no interest in making idle small talk with the client, unless it was to do with payment. “I’ll leave you to it.” She shut the bedroom door with a slam.

“Don’t mind her, she’s just a little pissed that I brought you here instead of meeting externally like we usually do. You did make sure you weren’t followed, right?”  

“Tony, I’m not stupid.” 

He chuckled as her eyes rolled, the same way they always had. It was quintessential Chloe O’Brian. “Want me to pour you a drink?” Tony opened the kitchen cabinet. It felt odd to be so hospitable. Having friends over for drinks seemed like a thing of the past.

She sat tentatively at the small breakfast bar, tracing patterns with her fingers. “Uh…sure. Wine, if you’ve got any.” He nodded, pouring the Riesling, before joining her, on the opposite side of the breakfast bar. The wine bottle was left next to her. His Cub’s mug was steaming, as Chloe noticed the Twining’s tag dangled over the side. She raised an eyebrow. “I always pictured you as more of a scotch on the rocks kinda guy.”

He cracked a smile. “I swore to Michelle I wouldn’t touch the stuff after we got back together. I know it seems pretty ironic considering everything I’ve done, but at least this is one promise I’ve kept to her.”

Chloe sipped her glass, feeling the warming sensation of the alcohol down her throat. She figured the buzz would help her feel less tense. Especially since it’d only been two minutes and Michelle’s name had already come up. “So…I guess you know why I’m here.”

“Yeah. You want to get Jack out of prison, and since nobody in the government would ever help with something like that, you went and found me. I hate to break it to you, but if Jack wanted to get himself out of prison, he would have by now. So maybe you should just leave him be.” Tony was already shutting her down, she’d figured as much. She knew he still had some animosity about Jack after everything that happened in Washington. A prison break wasn’t exactly a small request either. But nonetheless, Chloe intended on changing his views.

“I thought the same thing as you at first. Leave him be, it’s his choice. But I miss him, so much, and it eats me up every day because it’s my fault.”

“How is it your fault?” He furrowed his brow.

Chloe sighed. “He traded himself for me. I guess that didn’t make the news bulletin. I promised him I’d check in on his family, but every time I see Kim, it breaks me. She looks at me and just knows I’m the reason she’ll never see her father again.”

Tony nodded, realising how much sense that made. He bit the inside of his lip. The last time he saw Kim was in Washington, when she was kidnapped on his orders. He definitely felt bad for her. After all, now she’d lost both her parents. But this wasn’t exactly the first time she’d ‘lost’ Jack. First he faked his death. Tony remembers how guilty he and Michelle felt every time they visited her, knowing they were lying straight to her face. Then Jack came out of hiding, well, more like ‘was forced to’, and she decided she wanted nothing to do with him anyways. When she’d finally come for his senate hearing in Washington, and then to the FBI, he had already been infected with the prion variant. It was something of a miracle that the stem cell treatment had worked. But then, after a measly eighteen months of peace, he had had no choice but to go on the run, this time evading Russian capture. “Isn’t it better she loses him for good? How many times has she been reunited with him only to be disappointed again?”

“But what if we really get him out this time? And how’d you know it was five years ago anyway? You’ve just known all this time and never done anything about it?” She raised her voice. It was one thing if he’d heard about it not that long ago, but not if he’d known since the day it happened.

“You realise Jack and I have mutual contacts in Russia? One of them owed me a favour from a long time ago, and asked me if I wanted to bust him out. I said ‘no’ then, for the same reason why I still say ‘no’ now. “

She shook her head. “You owe Jack.” Chloe looked him straight in the eyes. She was a lot more forward once she had some liquor in her.

He didn’t look away. “I owe it to him to respect his wishes, but don’t forget the shit we’ve done for him.” Tony got up to rinse his mug, before pacing around the small kitchen. “I helped him out the day Teri and Kim were kidnapped, I covered up his smack habit when he went under with the Salazars…”

“He got you out of prison!” She shouted over the running tap. 

“Chloe, we faked his death for Christ’s sake, stop acting like Jack’s always been the fuckin’ hero.” He was getting angry now, definitely not in a mood to be persuaded. But Chloe still had one card to play. It was a cruel one, but an honest one.

“If Michelle were here, she’d want to help too.”

Tony slammed his hand down on the countertop. “You do not bring her into this.” He raised his gravelly voice. “I have heard this shit enough times. ‘Michelle’s looking down on me from Heaven, shaking her head’. ‘Michelle would never forgive me for the things I did in her name’. ‘Michelle’s disgusted at the monster I became’. I know all that. So stop using my dead wife against me, because you know what Chloe? She’s not here, and she never will be.” Tony pointed at her.

“Well stop acting like you’re the only one who’s lost someone. You’re not the only widow in the room!” She stood up, screaming back at him.

“What?” He narrowed his eyes.

“Morris and Prescott were killed in a hit-and-run…about six years ago.” Chloe’s voice was shaking. She’d barely opened up about it since it had happened. “A-At least you didn’t have to ID her body. At least you never found out what your son looked like.” Tony’s gaze softened into that of despondence. He’d had no idea she’d been through such a thing. And what she was saying certainly made him appreciate at least some aspect of the way his family had been killed. “Every time I shut my eyes, I still see their cold, dead bodies in the fucking morgue, Tony. My little boy covered in blood. I can’t think about the first time I held him, or when I used to kiss him goodnight without that image immediately replacing it. And for years, I thought it was meant for me, because I was supposed to pick Prescott up that day, not Morris.” 

The sound of their angry huffs and faint television dialogue filled the room.

“I’m sorry, Chloe.” Tony’s voice was calmer. “Really, I am.” She quickly turned around, using a tissue to carefully wipe her tears away. Chloe had wanted to maintain a strong front when she faced Tony, but she knew the dead spouse discussion was inevitable.

His voice had softened even more now. “I know it’s easy to put the blame on yourself, it’s easier to be angry at yourself rather than God. I think the same thing sometimes. I wonder if I hadn’t been such a stubborn ass and gone straight with her to CTU, we’d have gone together. But if I’d been more stubborn and stopped her from going, maybe someone would have figured it out first.” 

They sat and thought back to that day. How Tony’s world had come crashing down around him, and how Chloe had very nearly joined the casualty list.

“If Edgar hadn’t called me to say Michelle’s car blew up, I would have been killed first.” She said quietly. Tony had no words. He wouldn’t exactly admit that he’d rather Chloe, who at the time, was childless and single, had been killed instead of Michelle, whose death tore Tony’s hopes and dreams of a normal family life apart. “That day was just one of so many bad days for Jack. Don’t you feel bad for everything and everyone he’s lost? He doesn’t deserve this.”

“Yeah. Jack got away with what he’d done to try and save Teri. Hell, I defended him for it. But he nearly started World War Three over Renee Walker, who he barely knew, and now he’s paying for it. When you look at what he did because of her, it’s not a huge stretch from what I did over Michelle.” Chloe pursed her lips. Tony wasn’t wrong. Jack had been willing to cross a few lines that day, and she knows if it wasn’t for her talking him down, he would have gone through with it. In fact, she can’t exactly blame either of them for how they justified their actions. Both of them just took it too far. Tony was willing to blow up a subway, Jack was willing to start a war. He stood opposite her, leaning on the countertop, as Chloe poured herself another glass. “Besides, let’s say we pull this off. What do we do from there, huh? Hole him up in some shitty cabin in the backwoods of Russia, where he spends his life in hiding? He’s done that before, he won’t do it again.”

“We can bring him back to the States.” 

“And then what? The Russians will be after him, and whatever promises they made to not hurt Kim, or you, or anyone else go out the fuckin’ window. Trust me, that’s not what Jack wants. And Donovan’s not going to protect him the way Heller would.” Tony’s face dropped into one of fear. “Chloe, I actually like what I do for a living now. I feel like I’ve got some kind of purpose for the first time in years, and I’m not about to let anything fuck that up, again.” Tony was scared, Chloe understood. It’s not that he didn’t care about Jack, it’s that he was too terrified to lose everything again. She knew where he was coming from. Right now, he had his own business, and by the looks of it, a relationship. But Chloe knew Jack would have done the same for Tony.

“Didn’t you know President Donovan’s wife?”

“Yeah. But then I tortured his father, I’m not exactly in a position to make immunity deals. How’d you know about me and Rebecca anyway?”

Chloe took a long sip, finishing the glass of wine. “I hacked the CTU DC files. Got bored at work.” 

Tony shook his head, certainly not the most unexpected thing to come out of her mouth.“Speaking of, I heard you were with Open-Cell, but now you’re doing…what exactly?”

“Now I do cyber-security for a small start-up. I spend half my day teaching college graduates how to maintain a Phoenix Shield, and the other half playing Solitaire.” She grumbled.

Tony laughed. “So you’re grossly overqualified, in other words?”

“Yeah. Look, enough of the small-talk bullshit.” Chloe’s tone became more hostile. She wasn’t going to let the conversation shift topic. “I know you probably blame Jack for Michelle’s death, and you guys didn’t exactly leave things on the best terms, but don’t you care about breaking him out at all?”

He sighed. “I actually never blamed Jack for Michelle’s death. Jack was just a scapegoat for the Sentox conspirators. They’re the real enemy. That’s why we went after them.”

“Yeah, ‘we’.” Her air-quotes had an aura of fury. “It was ‘we’, until you wanted to blow Jack up. Until you kidnapped his daughter, lied to me and Bill, and betrayed us all!”

“First of all, I gave specific orders to keep Kim alive, and she’s not stupid, I figured she’d get herself out anyway. And I never screwed you and Bill over. I was on your side the whole day. I just didn’t expect to have an opportunity to face Alan Wilson. And Jack getting infected was just too good a chance to pass up.”

“You were going to blow up a subway full of people just to get his attention. Does that not terrify you?” Chloe looked at him, her teal eyes staring him down, just as before. It was hard for Tony not to feel guilty, after all, Chloe O’Brian was never one for eye contact. Slightly intoxicated Chloe O’Brian was a different story.

“I know.” Tony’s voice was raspy. “I was fucked up that day. Not a second goes by where I’m not ashamed of what I did. What I did in her name. What I did because I was angry and grieving. That’s why I try and do good work now.  When I was in prison, I requested to move from solitary so I could help stop things from the inside. I wanted to be part of the change. But they wouldn’t let me move, that’s why I broke out.”

“So help me help Jack. The three of us were all affected by the same corruption. Hell, we’re the only ones who lived to tell the story. We could make a change, together.”

“It’ll be China all over again. And you know exactly what the consequences of that were.” Tony’s voice broke, before he recomposed himself, speaking softer now. ”You can’t sweep that shit under the rug. It’s not that I don’t want to help Jack, I do. But I think it’s in his best interest that we leave him be. They could have even executed him by now.”

“He’s too much of an asset, even if he doesn’t say a word, they won’t kill him.”

“Look, Chloe, what I’ve come to realise is that there’s always some kind of conspiracy lurking, and whatever conspiracy’s out there now will use Jack as an opportunity, just like last time. That’s what I’m afraid of. Then we all lose.” She sighed. Stubborn and determined as she was, he was right. It was just too much of a risk. They’d suffered enough.“Also, how exactly did you think we were going to do this? This is Russia we’re talking about. We don’t exactly have CTU resources. You barely got pardoned, and I’m still on a ‘shoot-to-kill’ list somewhere.”

“…shoot to wound.”

“What?”

“I changed it. Instructions for any law enforcement that finds you now say ‘shoot to wound’.” He laughed through his nose, an acknowledgment of his gratitude. Chloe kept a stern scowl on her face, thinking of a counterargument, but she conceded. “Okay…I see your point. That doesn’t mean I’m giving up forever, but for now, yeah, you’re right, breaking Jack out just isn’t plausible.”

They sat there for a while, listening to the distant sounds of traffic. The light under Sidra’s door was gone, it was getting late. Chloe broke the silence first, a concept still bewildering to Tony. “So, uh, how many people are in your mercenary group?”

“About a dozen regular members, we normally just call out whichever contacts are in the vicinity of the job.”

“‘We’ as in you and…Sidra? I take it you guys are together?”

He shook his head, smirking. If he needed any proof that Chloe was still the same as she always was, her asking him head-on about whether he was involved with Sidra just confirmed it. “We met in Israel, while I was on a job. I saved her life, she’s had my back ever since. Sidra’s good at what she does.  She lost her partner because her government abandoned her. I lost mine for the same reason.  Our relationship is…I guess just us seeking comfort in each other. You know I’m never going to love anyone the way I loved her.” That had Tony thinking about work, and the rest of his crew. If Chloe wasn’t exactly enjoying her job, he figured he had an offer she couldn’t refuse. “You know, we could really use someone like you. The analyst we’ve got is good, but you’re better, no doubt.”

That got her attention. Chloe’s eyes lit up, but she tried to suppress it, upon deciding she looked a little too desperate for intellectual stimulation. “I’ll help you with your mercenary thing, but on one condition. You still get cash payments sometimes, right?”

“Yeah. If a client doesn’t have off-shore accounts, they’ll use cash to be safer, why?”

“Every time we get a cash payment, I want to give some of it to Kim.”

Guilt washed over Tony again, like a parasite that never quite left his conscience. “She’d never accept it, one, because it’s not exactly sourced in the most legal fashion, and two, because I’m the last person she’d want to see.”

“We’d clean it up. And yeah, she’d probably feel weird about it. But her kids are growing up. Before she knows it, they’ll be in college. Which is way more expensive now than when we went. Hell, you got out of paying because you were in the Marines. Don’t we owe it to her to help her kids make a good life for themselves, since ours never made it that far?” Her voice was bittersweet.

Tony’s face softened again, she was right. If he wanted to feel like he was making the most of the rest of his life, and making it up to Jack, helping Kim wouldn’t be a bad place to start. “Okay.” He nodded, sighing. “Deal. Welcome aboard.” He extended his hand out to her, a sign of formality and renewed ties. 

Chloe smiled back at him, as she gathered her things to leave. “I want you to make amends with her as well. Come with me when I visit. I know you need to keep a low profile, but we’ll figure it out.”

They stopped in the hallway. Tony looked at her sombrely. “Look Chloe…I don’t know if I can sit there watching her happy with her kids. Especially with a little boy, I-I just can’t, alright?” He sounded so timid. Even after all these years, the topic still stung for him. Tony knew he wouldn’t be able to keep it together.

“It was hard for me too. I know.  But after a while, it fills you with this feeling. It’s not exactly happiness, but just seeing these kids, so carefree, it just makes you feel good, somehow. We’re the closest thing she’ll ever have to her father, can you at least try?” 

Again, something about the way she said it inclined Tony to agree. The optimism, the hope in her voice. It just made things seem a little better than the way they were.

“Maybe someday. I haven’t even brought myself to go to Michelle’s grave. Somehow I feel like I should do that first. I-I’ve been in LA for months now, I keep saying I’ll go, but I chicken out every time.” 

“I laid some flowers at her grave the other day, Kim does too. So does her brother.” Tony gave a slight smile. He understood even more now why Jack always relied on her. Here she was, with no familial obligation to Michelle, but still paying respect to her memory, in a way he never could. He made a mental decision to try, but to really try this time. “God, there’s too many people we know at that cemetery. Jack’s wife, Edgar, Milo, Curtis…” They’d made it to the door now.

“I know, sometimes I forget that we really are the only ones left. Look, thanks for coming out, Chloe, I know this wasn’t exactly the answer you wanted, but I hope that by working together, you’ll feel like you’ve honoured not just Jack, but everyone we’ve lost.” He sighed. “I know it’s definitely made me feel better.”

Chloe looked at him one last time. “Me too. So, uh, I’ll see you soon I guess? Wait, do you even have my number anymore?”

He snorted. “I’m sure we’ve both gone through about a million phones since we were both at CTU.” She laughed in return, as they exchanged their still-subject-to-change phone numbers, before Chloe went to her car. 

Even though she’d gone to Tony’s apartment that night with guns blazing, demanding that he help her free Jack, Chloe left feeling content, knowing that a new chapter of her life, hopefully a more pleasant one, was opening up. 

And even though Tony was prepared to retaliate, shut her stubbornness down with his own, he also farewelled her that night feeling content. He was ready to make some positive changes in his life, for good this time.