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ACT TWO

FADE IN:

INT. WHITE HOUSE - HALLWAY

HELLER

Let me get this straight. You’re telling me that someone’s trying to make it look like Audrey had something to do with all of this?

MIKE

We don’t know, sir. But I think it’s a possibility. The timing of the president’s collapse looks awfully convenient, and it’s a well known fact inside the Beltway that she’s tried many times to convince you to run for president. Add that to what was going on with Jack and you have a perfect conspiracy.

HELLER

What exactly are you suggesting? Are you trying to say that you think my daughter’s guilty of something?

MIKE

No, sir. I know that Audrey’s innocent, but if this is as bad as I think it could be, her innocence is going to be almost impossible to prove.

HELLER

Maybe I’m naive, but I always thought that in the United States, you prove guilt, not innocence.

MIKE

I’m not saying that whoever’s behind this will be able to produce enough evidence to convict her in a court of law. But in the court of public opinion, we both know it doesn’t work that way. And you can say you don’t care about public opinion, but with everything that’s happened today, a scandal like this could have people up in arms and destabilize the entire government if you don’t handle it properly.

Heller shakes his head in disbelief.

MIKE (CONT’D)

The worse you let this get, the worse it’s going to look, the harder it’s going to be to clear things up, and the more scrutiny and investigations your daughter will have to go through.

Heller looks shell-shocked.

MIKE

Mr. President, why don’t you sit down for a moment?

HELLER

I don’t want to sit down!

Mike realizes that Heller is starting to panic.

MIKE

Mr. President, with all due respect, it is imperative that you remain calm.

Heller looks at Mike as if he is insane.

HELLER

Remain calm? My son has been abducted by terrorists. Someone is trying to frame my daughter for an attempt to assassinate the president and you expect me to remain calm?

Heller storms off, his hands shaking. Mike cautiously follows him for a moment, then stays back and takes out his cell phone.

MIKE

(into phone)

Audrey, it’s Mike.

SPLIT SCREEN

AUDREY

What’s going on?

MIKE

Am I remembering correctly that your father has some kind of a heart condition?

AUDREY

(nervous)

Yeah, why? What’s going on? Is he okay?

MIKE

He’s alright for now, but he’s pretty worked up about what the press is reporting.

AUDREY

Make sure he took his nitroglycerin…I’ll be right there.

MIKE

No, you need to stay where you are. If you come up here you’ll be mobbed by the press and that’s almost certain to put your father over the top.

AUDREY

Alright. Call me the second you think anything may be wrong.

MIKE

Alright, I will.

MATCH CUT TO:

INT. WHITE HOUSE: UNDERGROUND BUNKER - CONTINUOUS

Audrey hangs up the phone and turns to Jack.

AUDREY

Jack, you need to get out of here.

JACK

What do you mean, get out of here? Where do you want me to go?

AUDREY

I don’t care…you can go to the hotel or go pick up your daughter…but you have to go now.

JACK

Why are you so anxious to get rid of me all of a sudden?

AUDREY

Because if you’re here when my dad gets back he’s going to go off on you, and it’s going to get ugly, and that’s the last thing any of us needs right now.

JACK

Why is he going to go off on me?

She gives him a look that says “why do you think?”

JACK

Audrey, he’s known about our relationship since the day you were abducted.

AUDREY

It doesn’t matter. I know my dad…please, Jack, just go.

JACK

No. I’m not leaving you here to deal with him by yourself.

AUDREY

Jack, you promised that if I asked you would go.

JACK

I said I would go if you felt uncomfortable working together. I’m not leaving so you can take a bullet for me.

AUDREY

I’m not trying to…

JACK

Audrey, stop it. No matter what you say, I’m not going anywhere.

She sighs, not sure what else to say. He looks her straight in the eye and continues.

JACK

Whatever’s going on, we got in this together when we started seeing each other. And like it or not, we’re going to have to fix it together.

She puts her head down on the table and sighs, frustrated not at him but at the whole situation.

CUT TO:

INT. CTU WASHINGTON/BALTIMORE - CONFERENCE ROOM

SUSAN

We’ve called in all backup security, and Secret Service will cover the outside of the building.

TONY

Alright. Make sure you have someone to coordinate. The last thing we need is to get into a catfight over jurisdiction.

SCOTT MARSHALL enters.

SCOTT

I just got off the phone with an ITS person at Chevy Chase Bank. They noticed some suspicious activity on their network a little while ago.

TONY

Did anyone attempt to access Audrey’s account?

SCOTT

They don’t know. It’s a stealth script, and they don’t know exactly what it’s designed to do. But it looked like a whole bunch of customer records were simultaneously modified, and the logs showed that the modifications were made under a login that belonged to someone who died a few weeks ago.

TONY

Alright, get someone over there to investigate.

SUSAN

Mr. Almeida, we don’t have anyone who can do that here. This kind of investigation falls under the Cybercrimes Division.

TONY

Alright, get someone from there to check it out.

SUSAN

We’re working on it…like the rest of the federal government, they’re still calling in everyone who had the day off and trying to get back up to full staff capacity…

TONY

How long will it take for them to get someone there?

SUSAN

They said they should have someone thre within the next two hours…I told them that’s not good enough, but they’re doing everything they can to expedite the process.

CHASE

That’s way too long…for all we know the president’s son could already be dead. They could contact the White House with their demands at any moment…I’m amazed they haven’t already.

SUSAN

I don’t disagree with you, but I’m not sure what we can do. I called DOD to see if we could borrow someone from DISA but they have the same problem…they’re still short staffed.

CHASE

Tony, can I talk to you for a sec?

Tony sighs and follows Chase, not liking the direction this is going.

CHASE

Look, Tony…

TONY

NO! No way.

CHASE

Look, I know you’re afraid that someone may be targeting Michelle…

TONY

May be? We have multiple pieces of evidence to confirm it.

CHASE

I know. I don’t blame you for not wanting her to do this but we both know she has more experience than probably anyone in the region with viruses and cyber security breaches.

TONY

It’s not her job anymore, alright?

CHASE

I know. And nobody can compel her to do it, but if she were asked we both know how she would respond.

TONY

Fine. Don’t ask her.

CHASE

It’s not up to me, Tony. Susan’s briefing the White House now, and we both know Jack’s going to call her no matter what you say. So I’m going to send a strike team to secure the site now before she gets there,
alright?

TONY

Fine…tell them I’m going with them.

CHASE

You can’t. Richard’s friend Xing is going to be arriving any minute and we need you here to question him…you’re the only one here who knows him, and you’ll be able to judge better than anyone how to handle him.

TONY

Fine. But I want the bank completely cleared out and I want the area surrounding the bank monitored by satellite.

CHASE

Alright, I’ll have COMM take care of that.

Tony sighs and wipes his forehead.

INT. WHITE HOUSE - UNDERGROUND BUNKER

Audrey stares up at the TV screen for a minute, trying to hold it together.

CHRIS MATTHEWS (ON SCREEN)

So what do you think, Pete? Do you think the president’s daughter had something to do with President Logan collapsing?

PETE (ON SCREEN)

I’m not going to jump to any conclusions, Chris, but I think there are a lot of questions that have yet to be answered. It’s a fact that she was having an affair with Jack Bauer when he disappeared…The fact that Logan collapsed just as Bauer was about to be handed over to the Chinese is a pretty lucky coincidence. It’s also a fact that she’s been withdrawing unusually large sums of cash from her bank account, and that raises questions about where the money’s going…

CHRIS MATTHEWS (ON SCREEN)

So you think she paid someone to take out the president?

PETE (ON SCREEN)

I don’t know what she did. All I’m saying is she has the means and the motive to finance an attempt to take out President Logan, and she’s going to have to answer some questions.

CHRIS MATTHEWS (ON SCREEN)

But why doesn’t her brother’s abduction exonerate her? I mean, why would she want to have her own brother kidnapped?

PETE (ON SCREEN)

I’m not suggesting that she had anything to do with her brother’s kidnapping, but it doesn’t necessarily mean she’s innocent. There are a number of possibilities here…

Jack comes over and sits down next to Audrey.

JACK

I just got off the phone with Susan Walker at CTU…Chevy Chase Bank called to report a possible network breach…they don’t know if it has anything to do with your account but they’re going to investigate.

He looks up at the TV screen.

JACK

Come on. Let’s turn this off.

AUDREY

I can’t…I need to keep up with this.

JACK

No, you don’t. You have press people who are paid to listen to this bullshit.

AUDREY

Listen, I know you think this is just political nonsense, but right now, the public’s confidence is already shattered, and if we don’t get this situation under control, if people lose confidence in my dad’s ability to lead, there could be widespread panic and chaos.

JACK

I know.

AUDREY

Jack…

JACK

Audrey, forget it. I told you before, I’m not going anywhere.

AUDREY

I know. I just…no matter what my father says to you, I want you to know that I don’t blame you for any of this.

JACK

You have every right to.

AUDREY

Well, I don’t. It’s not your fault.

JACK

(softly, looking down)

Thank you.

Audrey tenses up and bites her nails when her father storms into the room.

AUDREY

Dad…

HELLER

Audrey, leave the room.

AUDREY

Dad, please…

HELLER

NOW!

She starts trembling and reluctantly obeys. Haunting music intensifies the tension in the room.

JACK

(nervously)

Mr. President, I just want to say how sorry I am…if I had any idea that any of this was going to happen…

HELLER

(angrily)

Then would you have thought twice before screwing around with my daughter?

JACK

Mr. President, with all due respect, I wasn’t scr…

HELLER

I don’t care what the hell you think you were doing, Jack.
The bottom line is, if you’d kept your hands to yourself none of this would have ever happened.

JACK

I understand that, sir, and I’m sorry. The last thing I ever wanted to do was cause her any pain.

HELLER

Well, whether you wanted to or not, you sure did a pretty good job of it.

JACK

(looking down)

I know.

CUT TO:

– OUTSIDE THE ROOM

Audrey blinks back tears as she hears her father yelling at Jack.

HELLER (O.S.)

Did you know that she cried herself to sleep for months after you disappeared? Do you have any idea how much she’s suffered as a result of your actions?

Audrey hears this and decides she can’t take anymore. She takes a deep breath and steels herself for battle as she charges into the room.

AUDREY

Dad, stop it.

HELLER

Audrey, I told you to leave the room!

Audrey shakes her head nervously.

AUDREY

Dad, please…

HELLER

He ruined your life, Audrey! Don’t you understand that? Don’t you remember how much pain he’s caused you?

AUDREY

(screaming over her father)

DAD, STOP IT!

Dead silence follows. Both Jack and Heller are shocked to see Audrey scream at her father like that, and she seems slightly shocked herself.
She quickly recovers and seizes the opportunity to speak, knowing it won’t last long.

AUDREY

Jack, could you give us a minute?

Jack nods and leaves the room. (Kelly Osbourne version of “Papa Don’t Preach” begins to play in the background).

AUDREY

Dad, I know that you’re upset, and I know how hard this is for you. I know that you’re ashamed of me, and I don’t blame you for not being able to look me in the eye. But this crisis isn’t Jack’s fault.

Heller sits down and wipes his brow, his rage turning to a feeling of defeat. Audrey sits down next to him and places her hand on his shoulder.

AUDREY

As hard as it is, you have to accept that I am a big girl, and I am capable of making my own decisions. There is nothing Jack and I did together that I didn’t want as much as he did or that I was any less a part of than he was. You have to stop seeing me as a fragile little girl who can do no wrong and needs to be protected from everything and everyone.

She grips his arm tightly.

AUDREY

If you get yourself worked up you could give yourself a heart attack, and there is nobody in line right now who could take your place if something happened to you. This country is counting on you, Dad…you have to lead…you have to.

He nods, still struggling to come to terms with what she is saying.

AUDREY

I know that I messed up, and I’m sorry. But I can’t change the things I’ve done or the decisions I’ve made.

Heller nods, still refusing to look up.

AUDREY

Please, Dad, say something.

HELLER

What do you want me to say? Nothing I say is going to change the reality of the situation.

She sits there for a moment trying to read his facial expression, wanting so badly for him to acknowledge her and show her some sign of acceptance, but resigning herself to the fact that it isn’t going to happen right now.

AUDREY

Nothing, nevermind. I’m going to go work out a press strategy with Patricia.

She glances back at him one final time as she leaves the room, trying desperately not to cry. He watches her go and sighs, wanting more than anything to give her a big hug and tell her that he loves her and he’ll stand by her no matter what, but is paralyzed by a feeling of being powerless to protect her.

COMMERCIAL BREAK