Ficathon: Day 4
Day 4 Fanfiction Prompt
Title: Asleep
Prompt: Asleep (funnily enough ;p)
Season: AU end to Season Six
Notes: I wrote this at about one in the morning and was falling asleep half way through, so I’m sorry if it doesn’t make much sense.
His brooding had reached an all time low when the so-called love of his life realised that the day-to-day experience of living with him, just couldn’t measure up to the excitement and emotion of seeing him for a day every year or two. That the reality of waking up by his side every morning wasn’t really what she’d thought it was going to be.
It had hurt him more than he would have liked to admit. At his lowest points, when he’d been lying on cold metal tables in the middle of nowhere, he’d clung on to his love for her and his belief that she truly had loved him too, only to have this dream shattered eight months after he’d arrived back in America.
She’d packed up all her Gucci suits and left their apartment with a tight smile and sympathetic eyes as she told him it wasn’t his fault, it wasn’t even her fault. It was circumstances that had made it impossible for her to be with him. They weren’t the same people they were when they’d first met, and they’d been foolish to believe they could ever go back to the way they were.
He threw himself into his work, purging his anger at her through aggressive interrogations, unrealistic demands of his staff and pissing off his superiors by flouting the rules every chance he got. To the outside world it looked as if he’d managed to get over Audrey’s rejection quite well, and was still the workaholic Jack Bauer he’d always been. But those who knew him best knew better.
Chloe’s initial concern had earned her nothing but scorn and disdain from the man in question, and within a short time her concern had turned to anger.
She got angry with him on a regular basis, which usually resulted in some form of row. Usually over him working too hard, but sometimes because Morris and Milo were actively trying to get her to go out with them, and Jack couldn’t help but pick a fight over it. He’d start yelling at her until they were in the middle of a blazing row. It didn’t seem to matter to either of them where they were. They could often be found in the middle of the situation room or even in the parking lot.
He should have been ashamed of his behaviour, but he couldn’t bring himself to be, he never felt more alive than in those moments when he and Chloe let their rage and frustration pour out of them.
His time away from CTU usually involved a bottle of fine malt whiskey and an ill played guitar. Every once in a while, Chloe’s concern would get the better of her and he’d get the knock on the door when she couldn’t stand the worry any more. He let her in silently, and somehow her presence made him feel a little less lonely and little more human.
This odd routine went on for months, until it seemed it couldn’t go on any longer. Strangely enough, it was Curtis who finally got through to him.
Chloe was in his office, eyes blazing and hair slightly out of place while she told him, none to quietly, exactly how wrong he was to push the tac team too far. They’d been on duty for the past fifteen hours and he’d just asked Curtis and his team to go on another mission.
They’d both seen Curtis approach his office from across the floor, tiredness slowing his steps from their normal purposeful stride.
Chloe had turned on her heel before the other man could reach Jack’s office. As she left she told him in no uncertain terms to rethink the mission. While their other teams were indisposed, this mission could have waited until a few hours later when the men could have gotten some rest.
What she didn’t say was that if any of them were killed, it was on Jack’s head. But she didn’t have to; he knew and was already regretting asking them to go out again.
Jack stubbornly refused to answer her, spinning his chair around to gaze out over the sea of CTU personnel and follow her figure as she marched towards her station, her back firmly to him.
He called the mission off as soon as he heard Curtis close the door behind him. He didn’t even bother to look around at the other man, knowing he’d only see the disapproval in his dark eyes when he’d walked in on yet another fight between his boss and his obstinate best friend.
“Damn it, Jack,” Curtis growled, slamming his fist down on the table and finally gaining Jack’s attention. “When are you going to wake up and see what the rest of us already know?”
Jack looked at him blankly, and Curtis smirked indicating towards their head analyst busily typing away on her computer.
Jack stared at him, blinking, and Curtis shook his head in despair and left him to his brooding. He looked out over the hub of CTU, mulling over Curtis’ uncharacteristic outburst, and invariably his eyes would always be drawn to her, and follow as she moved from task to task.
And that’s when he got it, like one of those cheesy, awful made-for-TV movies.
He saw her reach for the phone and almost jumped in surprise when his own bleeped.
“Bauer.”
“If you don’t stop staring at me, I’ll do a Shari on you and file a harassment suit!”
The phone was slammed down, but his was still at his ear when he turned back to his window to see her glaring at him dangerously.
Jack spun his chair around suddenly, his hands shaking on top of the glass desk , and his eyes widened. It was like he had suddenly woken up from some foggy dream. Like he’d been asleep for the past five years, ignorant of what had really been happening around him during all that time.
It all made sense. It had hurt like hell when Audrey had left, there was no denying that. She had wounded him in a way the Chinese with all their fancy torture methods, could never achieve. But if he were being honest he could admit he’d got over that some time ago. When he woke in the morning, Audrey wasn’t the first thought in his mind.
His first thought was always of Chloe, whether it was to apologise to her for acting like a jerk, or just to tell her of some mildly interesting programme he’d come across on the Discovery Channel the previous night.
He found their arguments all at once frustrating and exhilarating, not because he was arguing, but because he was arguing with Chloe. He knew arguing with Curtis wouldn’t have made him feel alive like Chloe did. Knew that the source of their arguments was just as much a part of his jealousy of Milo and Morris sniffing around her as any work related issues.
And he knew, just as Curtis had, and everyone else apparently. He loved Chloe O’Brian. The realisation left him breathless and his chest constricted around that thought. A smile grew on his face.
Suddenly, it seemed there was something even more exhilarating than arguing with Chloe – the prospect of telling her of his discovery.
~Finis~
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day_dream_girl1) wrote in ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small}
chlack,
