Pretty Bad Things Chapter 5
Sorry it took so long to update. This part takes place right after the last chapter. The day’s events have ended, Jack and Tony and crew have saved the world yet again, and now following Bill’s suggestion, Jack took Tony to a restaurant to get some breakfast and to give him a chance to tell Jack everything he’s been up to for the past five years before he turns himself in. For those of you who may have missed it, the first chapter was completely rewritten after episode 7 aired, so you may want to take a quick look back at that if you haven’t already.
“The source we were using came through, or at least so we thought,” Tony explains. “He got us pictures that confirmed that you had been taken, although they didn’t 100% confirm who the captor was. She gave the pictures to her father without telling him how she got them, and he brought them to President Gardner in hopes of convincing him to negotiate with the Chinese. But the Chinese at that point denied that they had you, and Audrey and I figured out pretty quickly that the government wasn’t going to seriously challenge them on it. Keep in mind that this was all taking place in the context of negotiations about a major trade agreement with the Chinese. Secretary Heller tried to lobby the president to make your release part of the negotiations, but Gardner said the negotiations were too delicate as it was and he was afraid bringing you into it would upset the apple cart.”
Jack nods, thinking back to four years ago when he accused Secretary Heller of not trying hard enough to get him out of China. Now he’s not sure if that accusation was fair or not.
“As you probably know, there are powerful business interests who depend on cheap labor and supplies from China, and those companies have a ton of influence in Washington,” Tony continues. “Members of Congress depend on them for campaign contributions, and the executive branch has that revolving door of people who lobby for corporate interests and then go work in the Administration for a few years, and then go back to lobbying the people they used to work with. Former Administration officials can look forward to a cushy lobbying job after their time working for the government as long as they don’t do anything while they’re in there that their clients consider harmful to their interests. So there was a lot of incentive for people who worked for the government to keep your capture hush-hush.”
Jack scoffs, irritated but not terribly surprised.
FLASHBACK: 8 MONTHS AFTER DAY 5
Audrey picks up Tony in the parking garage at Union Station after a frustrating day of lobbying members of Congress about Jack.
“Hey, how’d it go?” he asks.
She sighs with frustration.
“Same old, same old. I’ve been lobbying for weeks at DOD, in the Administration, and on the Hill and it’s not working. I thought once I had proof that he was captured help would be forthcoming, but everyone’s stonewalling and giving me excuses about how it would jeopardize the trade agreement or interfere with negotiations over currency manipulation…one senator even said that he was worried that if Jack were released he would talk to the media and give the human rights groups and protectionists a talking point in what he said was their trumped up charges of human rights abuses in China.”
“What? Somebody said that?” Tony asks with disbelief.
“I wish I were kidding,” she says.
“She should have just told them how much I hate talking to the press,” Jack says ruefully.
“She did, believe me,” Tony tells him. “But that wasn’t the point. The point was, Audrey was figuring out what I already knew…that the government was useless and couldn’t be trusted.”
RESUME FLASHBACK
“Did you ask if he was concerned that if Jack weren’t released he might eventually talk to the Chinese and be forced to give up critical national security information?” Tony asks. “Isn’t that a greater concern than whether he’d talk to the media, which I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t?”
“One would think,” Audrey grumbles, the exasperation showing in her voice. “But that’s not how things work around here. I don’t know why I’m surprised…I’ve been around politicians my whole life, and I know how things work around in this town. But these people have never seemed so petty and self-absorbed and removed from reality as they do right now…and the people at DOD are no better. I’m starting to understand why it was such a culture shock for Jack when he started working here.”
“I can just imagine,” Tony says. “I told you before, when I heard Jack had taken a desk job in Washington I was pretty surprised. Frankly, I’m amazed he lasted almost a year.”
“Well, it wasn’t exactly a seemless transition,” Audrey admits. “He was always stepping on people’s toes and offending senior bureaucrats by being overly blunt, to put it politely. No matter how many times I tried to explain to him that budget decisions are based as much on Congressional politics as on the needs of the military he wouldn’t accept it and he was always getting into it with Congressional staff and agency heads. One time my father almost had to fire him after he went off during an intelligence briefing and basically told the Undersecretary for Intelligence that he wasn’t doing his job.”
Tony shakes his head. “Frankly, I’m just surprised he kept his hands off the guy,” he jokes. Audrey giggles, and Tony can’t help chuckling a little too. It’s the first time either of them has laughed in months and it feels good in spite of everything.
“You probably have much crazier stories than I do,” Audrey realizes.
“I can just imagine what you told her,” Jack says.
“Not everything…just the highlights. I told her about the time you killed Goren and brought his head to Weld in a briefcase, and the time you shot Mason in the leg with a trank, attacked a Secret Service agent, broke a prisoner out of jail and carjacked a woman at gunpoint all in the span of 12 hours. Oh, and the time when you had me on crutches because I pushed back on one of your cockamamie schemes.”
“Great. Thanks a lot, Tony,” Jack says, half annoyed and half amused.
“Anytime,” Tony says with a grin.
Jack rolls his eyes.
“So after you were done having fun at my expense, what happened?” he asks.
RESUME FLASHBACK
Audrey pulls in to the attached garage of her large townhouse in Rosslyn.
“Hold on a sec…let me just go in and make sure I closed all the blinds before I left for work today.”
Tony nods and waits in the garage until she yells for him to come in.
“Wow…you have a nice house,” he remarks. Audrey gets a little self-conscious.
“Thanks. I was pretty close to selling it before I went out to LA for the summit…Paul and I bought it a few years ago thinking we might start a family, but it’s too big for one person and I wanted to start fresh.”
“So how come you didn’t sell it?” Tony asks. He nods when she takes a casserole out of the fridge and asks if he wants some.
“I don’t know…for one thing, after everything that happened, it was the last thing on my mind. I stayed out in LA for a couple weeks working with CTU on the debrief from the nerve gas attacks and to try to help them figure out what happened to Jack, and by the time I came back the prospective buyer had found another place. Plus, now that I know Jack’s alive, suddenly I didn’t want to sell it…”
“You’re thinking that if he comes back you can start a family together?”
“Maybe…I guess. I know it’s a long shot that we’ll get him back and who knows if things will even be the same between us. can’t even imagine what they’re doing to him,” she says, getting teary-eyed just thinking about it. “But I can’t help but hold out hope, as slim as it may be. When Jack disappeared the first time and I thought he was dead a few weeks later I thought I might be pregnant…when I found out I wasn’t I should have been relieved…it would have been embarassing for my father and I didn’t know how to raise a child all by myself. But instead of feeling relief I just felt empty…”
“You found yourself wishing Jack had left you with someone to remember him by,” Tony says understandingly.
“Something like that, yeah,” Audrey says wistfully.
“Michelle and I were trying to get pregnant,” Tony tells her, his voice soft and laden with grief. “We had been having trouble, but the morning she was killed she told me she thought she might be…she just woke up with a good feeling about it.”
FLASH FURTHER BACK: 6 AM, 1 HOUR BEFORE DAY 5 BEGAN
“Wake up, sleepyhead,” Michelle says to Tony as she sits down on the bed and starts messing with his hair.
Tony opens his eyes slowly and looks at the clock.
“Why are you up so early?” he asks groggily, noticing that her hair is wet.
“I woke up early and couldn’t fall back asleep. I don’t know why but I just have a good feeling.”
“Are you late?” Tony asks hopefully.
“No, not yet…a couple more days. But I just have a really good feeling about it.”
“Oh yeah?” he says playfully. “Well, instead of just going on a hunch, let’s try to increase the odds right now,” he suggests with a grin.
“Tony I already showered,” Michelle protests, knowing he’s going to win the argument.
“We’ve got time. Our meeting’s not until 9:30. Now get over here…that’s an order,” he demands, pretending to be back in CTU mode.
“And if I don’t follow it?” she teases.
“Then the consequences will be severe,” he says in a sinister tone, and proceeds to demonstrate the severe consequences by tackling her to the bed and tickling her.
“Tony, stop!” she shrieks.
“Still want to try to disobey my orders?” he asks with mock harshness.
“No,” she says with a smile.
“Come here,” Tony whispers as he pulls her toward him and starts kissing her.
“We were going to check after our meeting with a client,” he tells Audrey. “It could have turned out to be just a hunch, but now I’ll never know.”
“I’m so sorry, Tony,” Audrey says in a tone that shows that she not only feels sorry for him but understands exactly what he’s going through.
“Thank you,” he says softly.
Jack sighs sadly. It’s painful for him to hear about Audrey wanting to start a family with him and think about what might have been. The fact that he still feels responsible for Michelle’s death and the fact that she and Tony never had the chance to start a family make it that much worse.
Tony can tell how hard it is for Jack to hear him relay the story.
“Look, Jack, I’m sorry. I’m not trying to make you feel worse…I just thought you’d want to know,” he says.
“It’s alright. Just go on,” Jack says quietly, his voice clearly showing his emotion.
Tony nods, and then surprises Jack with what he says next.
“The hardest thing has been knowing for the past four years that if it wasn’t for me you and Audrey might have had another chance,” Tony says.
“What are you talking about?” Jack asks, confused. “I thought you were helping her look for me.”
“I was, Jack. I was trying to help, but I did something really stupid, and I let her walk right into a trap because I screwed up,” Tony admits, unable to look at Jack as he waits for a reaction.
How did Tony lead Audrey into a trap, and will Jack be able to forgive Tony when he finds out the truth? Stay tuned…if you have a chance to review feedback is always appreciated.
Wow, again that was fantastic, I didn’t want it to end! Please bring the next chapter soon!!